


Too Good To Be True

by Prettyprincess45



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Cheating, Desperation, F/M, Freshmen are annoying, Loneliness, Love, Pregnancy, Who loves who?, Who needs love? I do!, blind dates, cop, secret meetings, teacher
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 23:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3430247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prettyprincess45/pseuds/Prettyprincess45
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lori Grimes decides to "help" her best friend, lonely schoolteacher Kayla Hammond by setting her up on a blind date with Shane Walsh. It all seems perfect until everything begins to fall apart at an alarming rate...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lori Plays Cupid

"Does anyone know what irony is? Anyone?" The English teacher, Ms. Hammond, asked her 4th period students. But the class was much too quiet. She could even hear the crickets chirping.

"Anyone?" She asked again, and felt like facepalming.

There was still no sounds from the students, except for the occasional tapping of a pencil or foot.

"Doesn't somebody at least want to guess?" She asked, wanting to punch all of them and give every last one of them after school detentions for the rest of the week. But she knew that she couldn't. She was here to give them a chance, to teach them things that they didn't know.

When nobody even attempted to raise their hand, she got furious. "You know what? Get out your textbooks and read pages 190-205. This is unacceptable. You should've learned this in 7th grade. And now here you are, ninth graders, and you don't know anything."

The teenagers groaned and then the only sound in the class was the rustling of pages as they opened to their assigned pages.

"This is why I should've taught honors classes." mumbled to herself, wishing that the bell would ring soon and these children(or teenagers) would leave.

"Is what we don't finish in class homework?" A girl named Lucy Liu asked as she raised her hand. Many kids in the class turned to look at her and shot her evil looks. Then they turned towards their teacher, silently praying that she would say no.

Ms. Hammond thought for a moment. Should she give them homework? Sure, they really needed practice, but she had a feeling that they wouldn't even touch the homework.

"No." She finally answered.

"Wooooo!" Barry Clancy, the uncontested class clown, yelled out, pumping his fists in the air. Why were freshmen so immature?

The class worked for ten more minutes, then the bell rang, and everyone rushed out of the class. Ms. Hammond sighed with relief. It was lunchtime for her, which meant eating her homemade lunch and calling her best friend, Lori Grimes.

She took her lunch pale out of her desk drawer and dumped it's contents on her desk. Inside were a sandwich, a bag of Doritos, and a pack of Hostess cupcakes. She felt like a child eating this kind of lunch, but she loved it, so why should she care?

Then she pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Lori's number.

"Kayla?" Lori answered when she picked up.

"No, it's your husband. Who do you think I am?" Kayla laughed.

"Just making sure." Lori answered.

"I'm having a pretty bad day." Kayla complained into the receiver, tapping her fingers on her desk.

"Well, you'll feel better in a few days." Lori assured her friend.

"What makes you say that?" Kayla asked.

"You know... The date."

Kayla groaned and threw her head back. Lori had been trying for a while now to get Kayla to go on a blind date with some guy named Shane Walsh, who Lori said was a great friend of her husband Rick, but Kayla had never met him before. (Wasn't that the point of a blind date?) Which was pretty weird, considering that she was always hanging out with Lori and her husband,Rick. And now that the date was finally set, Lori was super excited, but Kayla really wasn't. She hated blind dates. She liked to meet the guy first, to get to know him a bit. What if this Shane guy was some mentally challenged guy that Lori and Rick felt bad for, and they were just pretending it was Rick's best friend?

"What makes you think that'll make me feel better? I'm a freaking train wreck when it comes to dating." Kayla said, sighing. It was true. Kayla had went out with few guys before, and each one was a terrible mess. What made Lori think that this Shane guy would be better?

"You'll like him. Trust me. He's great friends with Rick, and he's a good guy." Lori said.

"Why? Just because he's good friends with your husband, you think I'll like him?" Sure, Kayla loved Lori's husband. Not literally, even though she did have a slight crush on him at one point... But she had always thought of him as a person that she could confide in, and he could do the same with her. Sometimes, she felt like she could talk to him more easily than she could talk to Lori. He was basically her male best friend, and pretty much her only male friend. She's never told Lori any of this, though. Lori would've surely gouged her eyes out by now.

That's another reason she felt weird about this Shane guy. Since she was with Rick a lot, even without Lori sometimes, how did she not meet him?

"Just trust me." Lori said.

"Whatever you say. You always know best." Kayla said, laughing to herself.

"Yeah. By the way, can you watch Carl tonight? Rick and I are going to go out later tonight..." Carl was Rick and Lori's only son. Lori had always called on Kayla to watch him whenever she went out, which was pretty often. Kayla watched him so much, she wouldn't be surprised if he started calling her "Mommy". Sure, she had a strange love for kids, but who said she wanted to come home every day and raise her best friend's child?

"Sure. I don't have anything better to do anyway." Kayla said, thinking. What would she do tonight if she didn't watch Carl? She'd probably grade papers, eat Chinese food in front of the TV, and fall asleep on the couch. How fun. She'd much rather help out with Carl.

"Good. Thanks." Lori answered, and then promptly said goodbye. Kayla said goodbye as well and they hung up.

XX

About an hour and a half after she got home, Kayla had to head over to the Grimes house to babysit Carl.

"Remember to put him in bed at 9:00." Lori had instructed as she and Rick had walked out of the door.

"Ok." Kayla replied, deciding right then and there that she would put Carl to bed whenever she wanted. Even if he wanted to sleep at midnight, she'd let him, if his parents weren't home. She had no idea why Lori would bother giving her orders when she couldn't even take care of her own damn kid herself.

Soon, Kayla began to regret her decision of letting Carl stay up as late as he wanted. He was starting to get a bit annoying, and kept asking about when his parents would be home.

"Soon." She told him, and then she decided to play monopoly with him. The game was starting to annoy Carl, because of all of the math that he had to do.

"I hate this stupid game!" He said, throwing his pile of money in the air, causing it to fly everywhere.

"Woah, woah. Pick that up now." Kayla instructed, sounding every bit like the teacher that she was.

Carl groaned and picked up the money, and Kayla decided that they should put the game away.

Then Kayla realized that she had a chance to strike gold. Carl was always around his father, so he must know some info about that Shane guy, right?

"Hey Carl, I've got a quick question for you." Kayla said, and Carl lifted his head in interest.

"Yeah?" He asked, smoothing a hand through his own thick dark hair.

"Do you know anything about a guy named Shane Walsh?" She asked, smiling because she knew she was going to get answers.

"Yeah I do! He's pretty cool. He's good friends with my dad, and works as a cop just like him." Wow. That's some juicy info.

Kayla sighed. That wasn't the information she was looking for, but at least it was something. And something was better than nothing, right? Plus, she was half that Carl had just answered her question without asking her why she wanted to know.

"Cool. Are you tired yet?" She asked, hoping to get him into bed.

"No. Can I watch transformers?" He asked, and Kayla gave in.

They watched a bit of the movie, but not too much, because soon they were aware of a car pulling in the driveway and keys working in the door.

Kayla had to think quick. She quickly shut the TV off, and pointed to the stairs, silently instructing Carl to go upstairs. He went speeding, and was in his room with the door shut in a matter of seconds.

"How's out little boy?" Lori asked as soon as she and Rick had walked through the door.

"Good. He's such a good boy." Kayla said, smiling.

"Is he sleeping?" Rick asked.

"Yeah." Kayla answered.

"Good. Thanks again." Lori said.

XX

Kayla went home that night feeling like she wanted to die. She was so tired. She sat on the couch, and flicked on the TV. Some corny love story movie was on, andKayla had no idea why, but she decided to watch it.

The movie was about 2 hours long. She had no idea why, but she felt kind of lonely as she watched the movie. Sure, all of the kissing and hugging had made her sick, but it also made her feel like she wanted to be like those people in the movie. In love.

Kayla sighed, turned off the TV, and went upstairs to her bedroom. Her house was a small place, with only 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. Sure, there was a backyard, but what the hell was going to do with that?

She put on her sleep clothes and crawled into the bed. Luckily, today was a Friday, so she wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow. Sure, she would have some papers to grade at home, but at least she didn't have to deal with those kids in her classes.

She buried her head in her pillow, her mind still on the topic of falling in love. She tried to shake it away, but it just wouldn't leave her. Why was she thinking about this, anyway? Some cheesy love movie?

Or maybe Lori was right. Maybe she was lonely and did need a guy in her life to fill that void. Wait, what?

Kayla sighed. Maybe going on this blind date with Shane Walsh wouldn't be too ad after all.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing sleep to come quick.


	2. Rendezvous

Kayla woke up the next day with a terrible headache. She groaned in pain, and then put her head back in her pillow. She tried to go back to sleep, but no luck. About a half hour later, she decided to just get out of bed altogether.

She took an Advil, and just sat on her bed, staring at the wall. She was glad she didn't have to work. But she did have those papers to grade... Oh well. She'd leave it off until Sunday.

She spent another hour doing completely nothing, and her headache was starting to fade away. She got up, got dressed, and turned on the TV. Nothing good was on. Why did TV have to suck on Saturdays?

She pulled out her phone and shot a quick text to Rick. He had given Kayla his number long ago-for whenever she needed to escape and didn't want to talk to Lori or anyone else. Of course, she never told Lori that. She didn't want to think of what kind of problems that would lead to.

Hey, what's wrong? He texted back about a minute later. Kayla laughed at how proper he was when texting. He was always like that, and she had no idea why.

Bored as hell. Is ur wife home? Kayla texted him again. If Lori wasn't home, she could probably go over their house and talk to him. But if she was... Then they'd have to stick to texting.

No. He texted back. Kayla smiled.

Come on over. He said immediately after the last text. Kayla smirked. She looked in the mirror, to make sure she was at least a bit presentable, and headed out the door.

XX

"Where is she?" Kayla asked Rick as she walked into the Grimes house.

"She's at the grocery store." He answered, shutting the door behind her as she entered.

"How long do you suppose she'll be gone?" She asked, hoping it was at least an hour or two. But even if it was only a half hour, at least she was still spending time with Rick.

"She'll call me when she's on her way home. We'll know." They liked to keep their visits a secret, because there would be no point in talking to each other about secret things if everyone was listening, right?

"And Carl is with her?" Kayla asked. They liked to keep Carl out of the picture as well, because they were sure that he would tell Lori about everything. Even if they told him not to. Little kids were always like that, even if they didn't mean to be.

"Yeah. Want to go outside? It's a beautiful day out there." He gestured towards the backyard, where two lawn chairs were set up.

"Yeah, let's go." They walked outside, and each took a seat in one of the chairs.

"So, what's on your mind today?" He asked when they were all settled.

Kayla looked at the sun, thinking about how talking to him made her feel good as hell. She could pretty much tell him anything, and he wouldn't tell a soul and help her out if she needed it.

"You know that blind date your wife has me going on?" She said.

"Yeah... What of it?" He asked.

"That's what's on my mind." She crossed her legs.

"Are you nervous? Because Shane's a pretty good guy..." He started, when suddenly she realized that she could ask Rick anything about Shane.

"Can I see a picture of him? Or meet him? He's your best friend, right?" She asked, sounding anxious. She was also slightly bouncing up and down in her chair, excited to hear some information.

"You're not supposed to meet him until the day of the date. That's the point of a blind date." He would've liked to bring Shane over and have him and Kayla meet each other , but he had a feeling Lori would find out. He wasn't worried about Kayla telling, that would compromise any more meetings between them. Actually, he was worried about Shane telling. He may not mean to, but it'll come out sometime. And if she found out that they had a "secret meeting" before the date, she would be pissed. And he really didn't need that right now, not at all.

"Why? Why do you always listen to her?" She asked.

"I don't always listen to her." He said sharply. Kayla looked at him, shocked at how he was speaking.

"Oh." She said quietly.

"Listen. I'm sorry that I spoke that way. It's just... Lori and I, we're having some problems."

Kayla stared at him. "Problems? Like what?" She asked.

"It's nothing major. We're just... Having a few fights here and there. Really, it's nothing."

But Kayla could tell that it was something. But she didn't ask for more, even though she was dying to.

"It's just... It seems like we can ever agree on anything. We can't agree on how to raise Carl. We can't agree on what to do with... Anything. And she calls me names in front of Carl. Just the other day, she asked me if I even cared about us. And even through all of this, I can't even bring myself to yell at her. You think I would, but I just can't. But Lori doesn't seem to feel the same. She'll scream at me while we're in bed, in front of Carl, basically wherever I piss her off, she'll yell at me." He said. Kayla could see the tears brimming in his sky-blue eyes, and she felt bad for him. She was stressing out about a simple date, while this guy was having major problems with his marriage.

She stared at him in shock, surprised that he would just spill his heart out to her like that. It felt good though, because she felt like they were closer now, but not in a creepy way. She felt like they were better friends.

"You'll work something out. I know it." Kayla said, feeling lame. She wished she could say something better, but she just couldn't think of anything. She didn't know jack about marriages or relationships, because she was so inexperienced. But right now, she wished she did. More than anything, she wanted to help Rick and Lori.

"We'll try. I really want to work something out. I don't want to lose Lori." His voice was cracking, and he was rocking back and forth in his chair, and Kayla assumed that he was doing that to keep from having a breakdown. Suddenly his phone beeped, and he looked at it, wiping his eyes.

"Lori's on her way." He said to Kayla, and Kayla got up from her chair. "Bye. Thanks for having me over." She said.

He got up as well, and placed a hand on her shoulder for a second. "You're welcome." He said, smiling. He was glad to get all of that gunk out of his system. He felt glad to have someone other than his wife to vent to. He was glad to have Kayla as a friend.


	3. First Date, and not the last

"Lori, it's immediate." Kayla begged over the phone. She needed Lori to come over her house-now. It was the day of her big blind date with Shane, and she didn't even know what to wear.

"What is it?" Lori asked, slightly annoyed. She knew that Kayla wanted to call off the date at the last moment, but that wasn't going to happen.

"I'm having a clothing crisis. Just get your skinny ass over here." Kayla said.

"You can't figure out what to wear? Are you kidding me?"

"Yeah. That's why I need you."

"Well, here's a hint. Make it somethin' fierce n' sexy. Guys like flashy things."

"Like cleavage-flashy things?"

"Like anything-flashy things. As long as your showing something, he'll be all over it. Trust me. I know Shane."

"Sure. Just come over here and tell me what clothes like that look like."

"Kayla... Fine, I'll be right over." Lori sighed and grabbed her car keys.

"Bye Rick! Bye Carl!" She called out.

The two came out of their rooms and immediately asked the same question, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to help Kayla find an outfit for her date."Lori told them, opening the front door. At that, Rick said goodbye, kissed her, and went back into his room.

"What date?" Carl asked. Oh yeah. She hadn't told her son about the blind date, only because she knew that the little guy would spill all about Kayla to Shane, and all about Shane to Kayla.

"She has a date with somebody." Lori replied. Oh wow. No shit Sherlock.

"Who?" Carl asked. Why did he have to be so nosy?

"Shane." Lori finally admitted. She didn't know why she couldn't just make a name up. She really should've.

"Shane? Woah, Shane's gonna be Kayla's boyfriend? Are they going to get married?" Carl asked.

"Let's not go that far. It's their first date." Lori said, kissing the top of her son's head. She wanted to get out of there now, before he kept asking questions.

"Bye mom!" He called as she walked out the door. "Bye honey!" She called back.

She breathed a sigh of relief, got in her car, and was on her way.

XX

"Is this good?"

"How about this one?"

"Is this one flashy?"

These were the questions that Kayla kept asking, each time holding up some outfit that she didn't even give Lori time to fully look at.

"How about this?" Kayla asked, holding up a black dress. Then she promptly threw it on the floor. Lori swiped it off of the ground.

"At least let me see these things before you throw them on the ground." She snapped, unfolding the dress to get a closer look at it.

"What do you think?" Kayla asked her friend, standing right behind her.

"I think it's nice. Go try it on." Lori said, handing her friend the dress and waving her off. Kayla went in the bathroom(which was located in her bedroom).

"This might be a little short..." Kayla said.

"Just come out and let's see it." Lori said, laughing at how much of a prude Kayla was sounding like.

Kayla stepped out of the bathroom. Sure, the dress was a bit short, but nothing too terrible. It came a little bit above Kayla's knees, and it was a little tight, but that was the way it was supposed to look.

"Too short? Hon, I think it looks great on you. It totally shows off your legs, which we all know as your best feature." Lori said, smiling. Kayla had super long legs, and at times they would make Lori jealous. But now she knew that Shane would like that about her, and maybe things would go along a little better. She knew it wasn't right for someone to just show off themselves for their date to like them. But Kayla could come off a little inexperienced and naïve, and she needed help to look like she knew what she was doing. Lori really wanted this date to work out, for both Shane and Kayla's sake. They both needed someone in their life. Badly.

"Really?" Kayla asked.

"Yeah." Lori said.

"Ok, then I'll wear it."

Lori breathed a silent sigh of relief. She had come here thinking that this would take hours, but it only took about ten minutes.

"What time should I go? Where the hell are we even going?" Kayla asked, once again looking in the mirror.

"You're going to that fancy little Italian restaurant that just opened up. Rick's going to pick you up, since you have no sense of direction at all." It was true, Kayla always got lost when she was driving somewhere, and always had to call Lori or Rick to give her directions to get wherever she was going. It was quite annoying at times. That's why tonight, Rick was going to drive her. Because if she got lost on the way to her date and showed up extremely late, who knows what would happen, but it wouldn't be very good.

"Good." Kayla was happy that she was getting picked up by Rick for two reasons. One, she didn't want to get lost. And two, she wanted to see him right before the date, to cool her nerves a little bit. She knew Rick was just the guy for that.

XX

Kayla slipped the dress off as soon as Lori left. She didn't want to wear it any longer than she had to. She would put it in a half hour before she had to go.

She worked on her hair, and decided on messy-but-cute bun. She sat on her couch, and turned on the TV. She should've been doing work, she had to teach tomorrow. But she decided that she would do it later, after the date.

She flicked through the channels, finding nothing. She shut her eyes, trying to calm the nerves brewing in her stomach. God, what would she do? She was so inexperienced. And it didn't help that this was a blind date, and she didn't even get to meet the guy.

She felt sick to her stomach. Oh, the nerves were really building up.

XX

Kayla looked in the mirror at herself. Her glasses were covering most of her face. Her dress fit good, but it was way too long, and it buttoned up to her neck. She felt like a granny. And it was the day of the big Valentines day dance for sophomores, and Kayla was actually bringing a date this time, a first for her.

She tore her glasses off if her face and headed down the stairs slowly. Her father was down there, grilling her date. Kayla stopped halfway down the stairs to listen.

"What do you plan on doing after you get out of school?" Her father asked. Why did he have to be so overprotective? They were just going to a dance. It wasn't like they were going to get married or something.

"I want to become a professional athlete." Her date, Barry Greenburg, responded.

"And if you don't make it or get injured?"

Kayla could practically feel his sweat. "Oh... Uh... I..."

Kayla ran down the stairs, nearly falling on her ass because she was wearing heels. That was a first for her too.

"Hey!" She said, and saw Barry giving her a once-over.

"You look great." Barry told her, taking her hand. Kayla's father stared at them in disgust.

"Don't try anything." He warned Barry.

"I w...w... I won't, sir." Barry stammered, and he and Kayla left. Kayla's house was extremely close to her school, so they'd be able to walk to the dance, which was in the school gym.

They had a good time at the dance. A great time, actually. But it all went downhill at the end.

"I'll bring you home tonight, but after this, I don't think... I don't think we should go out anymore." Barry told her. Kayla stared at him in shock. Oh, hell no. He couldn't be dumping her. Not tonight, the first time they had ever went out. Could a school dance count as a date? There were too many thoughts in Kayla's head.

"I... Why?" She asked. She never did get a response.

Kayla got home that day and stayed in bed for three more days. Her parents asked no questions, they just let her sulk in bed. She should've called Lori and told her what a scumbag Barry was. But she didn't any to associate with anyone, not even her best friend.

Kayla doubted she would ever go on another date again. She had no desire to go through that ever again.

XX

Kayla snapped her eyes open. Oh, god. When had she fallen asleep? Had she even fallen asleep, or was she just daydreaming? Either way, she rubbed her eyes and made sure her contacts intact. She got the contacts shortly after her sophomore year in high school, as a Christmas present.

There was a knock at the door. Kayla shot upstairs and shoved on her dress. She was sure the person was Rick.

She looked in the mirror. Her hair looked fine, but she was wearing zero make up. She shoved on some lipstick. Then she grabbed a pair of black wedges out of her closet, put them on, and ran downstairs.

"Rick?" She called out loudly as she ran down the stairs.

"Yea?" He called back.

She opened the door to reveal Rick, all dressed up in his cop get-up. Poor thing probably just got off work, and now he had to drive her to her date. She felt bad, but it was better him than Lori, right? Lori would probably lecture her the whole way on how to act on a date, but Rick would actually have a smooth conversation.

"You ready?" He asked her.

"Yeah, let's go." She replied.

They got into his car. "So, are you excited?" He asked.

"A little. But I'm nervous I guess." She replied, riding shotgun.

"You'll be fine. Shane will like you. I know it. Just... He may come off a little heavy at first, but just give him a chance. You two will be good."

"You think?"

"I know. Give it a chance."

"I will."

Soon they arrived at the restaurant. Rick let Kayla off at the front of the restaurant, and Kayla promptly went inside. There were a bunch of people in the waiting area, waiting to get their tables.

Kayla surveyed them. A guy in a suit, a young girl with a baby, an old man, a fat guy, and two teenagers holding hands.

"Shane... Walsh?" She asked, and everyone looked at her.

"Anyone?" She asked.

Everyone continued to stare at her like she was crazy. She sighed and sat down.

She waited and waited, and watched as other people got their tables. She was beginning to think that's he was getting stood up.

She sighed again and twirled a piece of her light blond hair around her finger. She wanted to shoot Lori an angry text, but decided against it.

The door opened, and a new guy stepped inside. He was wearing a crisp black suit and a tie. Kayla put her palm up to her mouth and snickered quietly.

"Kayla Hammond?" She heard someone ask. She looked up. The person speaking to her was the guy who had just came in with the suit.

"Yea... Shane Walsh?" She asked.

"That would be me. Now let's just get this over with, shouldn't we?" He helped her up and they got their table.

At their table, they say across from each other. Kayla examined him quickly. He we good looking, clean cut, and he appeared to be very muscular, he filled out his suit nicely.

Shane did the same and checked out Kayla. Sure, she was cute, but she seemed nervous and on edge. And she was rarely making eye contact with him. Hey, at least she had nice legs, which he got to see first hand after he helped her up and they headed for their table.

There was a basket of bread at the table already. Shane immediately took a piece and opened a packet of butter. He began to butter the bread, glancing at Kayla every chance he could. Would she ever start a conversation?

Kayla leaned over to get a piece of bread for herself, and as she did so, Shane checked out her cleavage.

"So... You're a cop? Must be scary." Kayla said. Finally.

"Scary? Nah. It gets tough sometimes, but never scary. At least not for me." He smiled. Kayla laughed.

"Is it fun?"

"Eh, sometimes."

"I'm sure you have tons of stories."

"Yeah, but I want to hear a bit about you. What do you do?"

"As a job?" Kayla felt like an idiot for asking a dumb question like that.

Shane shot her look, one of those no-shit looks. She wanted to crawl under the table, curl up, and promptly die. But that be even worse. She'd look like a complete freak.

"Yeah. As a job." Shane finally answered.

"I'm a teacher. 9th grade." Kayla said, trying to get over her embarrassment.

"What subject do ya teach?" Shane asked.

"English. It's hell."

"Them freshmen." Shane said. Kayla had no idea what the hell he was trying to say, but she laughed anyway.

"Exactly." Kayla answered.

They talked a while more, laughing and having fun. When the waiter finally came, they both ordered wine and pasta dishes.

As they waited for their food, they talked more. And when the food arrived and they began to eat, they talked and laughed more.

Kayla was having so much fun. She did like Shane.

Soon, they asked for the bill. They were much too full for dessert. When the bill came, Kayla tried to swipe it up. But Shane was too quick and swiped it too quickly for her.

"Give me it." She said, knowing it wouldn't do anything.

"Here." Shane held it out.

Kayla went for the grab, but Shane pulled it away from her too quickly.

He laughed.

"Wow. Mature." Kayla said, rolling her eyes.

Shane put the money on the table. "Maybe another time. How 'bout I take ya home?" He asked, smiling. Kayla felt like she was floating.

Lori was right. Oh, she was totally right.

"Thanks Lori." She said quietly to herself.

"What?" Shane asked. Great. Now he probably thought she was a weirdo.

"I didn't say anything." She said, trying to sound convincing.

"Ok." He replied. She breathed a fast sigh of relief. He believed her.


	4. Girl Talk

Kayla woke up extra early he next morning, so she had time to both get ready and daydream about her date last night.

She pulled herself out of bed, a huge smile plastered on her face. She was too happy after last night, too hyped up. She had gone on a date with a guy that she already liked, and even better, he seemed to like her! Life could be sweet sometimes.

But it also could be a bitch, which she learned as soon as her favorite English class came in.

"Today we will be learning how to write a 2 paragraph response." Kayla too the kids excitedly, even though she knew that the kids would hate learning it, and she would hate teaching it to them. But no way was she going to let that ruin her good mood. She was still glowing over last night.

The class groaned.

"A 2 paragraph response is a quick way of writing. One paragraph is your introduction and thesis statement, and the last paragraph is your body. You tie up your response in the ending sentence. There won't be a separate paragraph for the conclusion."

Kayla began to hand out the assignment papers. "We'll do the first one together today, then the rest of the assignments will be up to you." She told the students. They all groaned. She was helping them. Why were they pissing and moaning still?

She helped them begin the introduction. They didn't contribute at all, even when she asked them questions like "Does this sound good?" and "Which word sounds better?"

Kayla was beginning to get annoyed. These students were not motivated at all. And they should be. Hell, they were in 9th grade. This was the year that mattered. This was when colleges would begin to observe them. Apparently, these kids didn't give a crap what happened to them.

They continued the essay, Kayla writing most of it. All of it, actually. The students rarely answered any questions she asked, and seldom came up with ideas. It was making Kayla angry. She wanted to scream at them, smack them, and make them do the essay themselves. But she knew she couldn't. Why was being a teacher making her so angry lately? She used to love it. Maybe it was just getting old to her. Maybe it was just these students. She felt like she had to call Rick later and set up another "secret meeting".

"Do any of you want to learn this? Or do you want me to do it all." She asked.

"We want you to do it." A few kids in the class answered in unison. Kayla didn't know which ones they were. If she did, she would chew them out.

"I appreciate your honesty. But you really do need to learn this. You have a big test at the end of the year. And you must pass it. Well, unless you want to end up seeing my face next year." Kayla told them.

"We definitely don't want that." Barry said. The class snickered. Kayla decided to let it slide just this once.

When that class ended(it felt like forever to Kayla), Kayla felt exhausted. When it was time for lunch, she couldn't be more happy. She was really looking forward to talking to Lori.

"Kayla! So how was the date last night?" Lori asked as soon as she picked up.

"Well, hello to you too. I had a great time last night." Kayla replied.

"That's it? Something exciting had to happen? Did he kiss you?" Lori asked.

"No, he didn't kiss me. But we still had fun."

"What did you do?"

Kayla laughed and rolled her eyes. What did Lori think that they did? "We ate dinner and we talked. I learned a lot about him. He's so brave." She swooned.

"Oh, god. Did he tell you the story about the gangsters?"

"Yeah! Why? Is that a fake story or something?" Kayla asked. What good was a guy if he had to lie about his accomplishments?

"No it's real. He just always uses that when he wants to impress someone. Especially a woman."

Shane had decided that it would be "cool" to tell everyone he met how he once took down a few gangsters. It was nothing big, there were only 3 of them, but another deputy was shot in the process if getting them. They had to end up shooting the gangster that fired the weapon, only injuring him, not killing him. Shane thought that since he got out of that mess untouched, he should tell everyone about it. And Kayla really didn't blame him.

"Oh. I don't really care then. It's good to brag about yourself and good things that you do sometimes. It really boosts your self esteem."

Lori rolled her eyes. Of course Kayla would say that. Little miss "All of my students passed their final exam this year!" Just like Shane, Kayla loved to brag about her job. And it always was about those damn test scores.

Suddenly, the bell rang.

"I gotta go, Lor. I'll call you later." Kayla said.

"Why don't you come over later?" Lori asked.

"Ok. Your husband isn't going to be there?"

"No. He's working."

"Ok. I'll see you then."

XX

"Where's Carl?" Kayla asked as she stepped into the house.

"He's outside playing." Lori answered.

"Unsupervised?" Kayla asked. Sure, she was no parent herself, but she knew that kids as young as Carl shouldn't be playing outside by themselves.

"He'll be fine. He's a good boy. He knows when to come back in." Lori said.

Kayla decided not to question Lori's parenting any further. "So... I'm sure you want to hear more about the date. That's why you called me here... Right?" Kayla asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Yeah. But we can talk other stuff too." Lori said, also taking a seat.

"Yeah. Well, Shane gave me his number last night. Is that a good thing?"

Lori's face lit up. "That's a great thing. Did you give him yours?"

"Yeah. But I'm waiting for him to call me first. Or should I call him?"

"Honey, if you call him first, call me "old fashioned", but you'll seem desperate."

"You're right. I'll wait. I wonder what he really thought of me."

"He did like you. Why else would he give you his number?"

"To give me false hope?"

"Don't think like that."

They talked for another half hour or so. They drank some coffee and had cookies.

"Oh shit. Carl!" Lori said through a mouth full of cookie. She threw her half eaten cookie down on the table and rushed out to the backyard.

"CARL! CARL!" Kayla heard Lori call. Kayla rushed outside.

"He's not here?" Kayla asked. She scanned the yard. No little boy in sight.

"COME ON BABY! MOMMYS HERE!" Lori called. Kayla could see tears in her eyes and hear the nervousness in the voice.

"CARL! CARL!"

"It's ok. We'll find him." Kayla assured her friend.

But Lori wasn't so sure.


	5. Rick The Therapist?

"Come on! We have to find him!" Lori shouted at Kayla.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. He can't be far." Kayla assured her.

"Where do you think he went? Why would he even leave in the first place?" Lori was close to tears, and Kayla knew it.

"Let's just look around. Ask the neighbors. He can't be far."

"I'll ask the neighbors, you look around." Lori said. "Hurry."

"Alright, I'm moving." Kayla began to walk away, when suddenly the screen door that led to the backyard opened.

"Lori?" Rick asked, stepping outside.

"Honey, we have a major problem here." Lori said as she hugged her husband.

Rick caught onto the panic in her voice. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"It's Carl. He's gone." Lori said.

"Where did you last see him?" Rick asked.

"He was out here, playing. Kayla and I were inside talking, we came out here to check on him, and he was gone. I mean, you're a cop hon. Just help us find him." Tears began to form in Lori's eyes.

"You let him play out here... Unsupervised?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, I mean he's old enough and everything. I thought he was responsible." Lori said.

"He's 10 years old. You should've at least watched him from inside."

"I know. It's all my fault." Lori began to cry softly. Rick took her into his embrace.

"It's not." He assured her.

Kayla watched all of this silently. The words that Rick had said the other day. "I just can't bring myself to yell at her." That was what was going on here. Rick was about to tell his wife off, but when she said had started crying, Rick caved.

"We better get looking." Lori said, breaking away from Rick. Kayla walked away, pretending that she wasn't listening.

It was getting darker and colder as Kayla walked down the street, calling Carl's name practically every step she took.

Kayla ran a hand through her long hair, wondering what would happen if they didn't up finding Carl. Rick and Lori would be devastated. Carl was their only child so far, and Kayla knew that he pretty much meant the world to them.

"Let's not think about this." Kayla said to herself as she kept walking.

XX

"Excuse me. I'm Lori Grimes, your neighbor. Yeah, you know me. So, have you seen my son? He ran away from our house awhile ago, and I was wondering if you had seen him?"

"I'm sorry, but no."

This was what was happening at every house that Lori went to around the neighborhood. She would knock on the door, ask that same question, and get the same answer. Well, of course nobody would say the same "I'm sorry but no", some preferred "No" or even "No Ma'am."

Lori was getting frantic. She had to find her son.

Rick was also helping to look for him by asking neighbors. He obviously didn't anything from anyone either, because he would've told her by now.

"CARL!" She shouted really loudly. People pulled curtains back in their houses to look outside. Lori just sighed. What did she think screaming would do?

XX

Kayla found him sitting in a park bench. She approached him slowly, like you would a deer. Any sudden movements, and he might run off.

"Carl?" She asked slowly, sitting beside him.

"Hi." Carl replied after a few seconds of silence.

"Why did you run away from your house? Your mom is worried sick. Literally." She told him.

"I don't know. I just... I'm never allowed anywhere. And I wanted to go somewhere... That's all. I didn't mean to scare anyone." He said.

"But you did. Come on, right now. Let's go home."

They both stood up, and Kayla took the boys hand. He tried to get away from her, but she didn't allow him to.

"Are you too big to hold my hand anymore?" Kayla asked him jokingly.

"Kind of." Carl said, laughing.

"Fine. You win. Just walk close to me."

More than anything, Kayla wished that Carl was her child. It sure felt like it. Maybe it wasn't the fact that she wanted Carl as her child, but that she wanted a child in general.

"I'm not going to think about that right now." Kayla said to herself.

"What?" Carl asked.

Kayla smiled. "Nothing."

XX

"Carl!" Lori shouted as soon as she saw her son walking into the house. She and Rick were back inside the house, with no help from neighbors. They didn't to get anyone big involved in this yet. They wanted to wait for Kayla. Lori was about to have a serious panic attack, but some kind of miracle had happened and Carl was already back before she could even dial a single digit of any phone number, or start screaming.

"Carl!" She said again as she pulled her son into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry mom." Cal said, hugging his mom back.

"It's fine. Just never do that again. Where were you?" Lori asked.

"I was going to the park. I really didn't mean to scare you. I think I'm old enough to go places on my own, right?"

Lori laughed. "The hell you are. You scared the shit outta me Carl. Never do that again. You hear me?" She held her son tighter.

"Got it mom. You're suffocating me."

Lori laughed and let her son go. He immediately ran over to his father for a bear hug. Lori smiled and pulled Kayla in for a hug. "Thank you." She whispered into her friends ear.

"No problem." Kayla replied.

XX

Kayla went home satisfied that night. She had found Carl, and Lori and Rick were excited about that. They actually looked happy together with their child. But god knows what would happen when Kayla left.

Kayla lay in her bed, smiling. But soon, her happiness was crushed when she realized something. Something critical.

Shane hadn't called her yet.

It was normal, right? He wasn't supposed to call her right away, right? Then again, if he wanted a follow up date, wouldn't he have talked to her already and set a date? Or was he playing hard to get? Did guys even do that?

These thoughts were causing Kayla's brain to feel like it was going to explode.

Kayla sighed and shut her eyes.

XX

The next day, Kayla didn't need to work, so she slept in. She didn't actually wake up until quarter to noon, and it felt good. She felt like she hadn't got rest like this in awhile.

She turned on her phone, and saw a message. Her heat leaped and began to beat fast.

Then she realized that the message was from Rick, not Shane. She still loved to hear from Rick, but still.

The wife's out. Come over. The message read.

Kayla laughed. So he wanted a secret meeting.

Coming Now. Kayla responded.

Rick sent her a message of a smiley face and Kayla felt her heart flutter. Rick was so awesome. For a second, she wished that she was the one married to him, not Lori. Then they could talk all of the time. Kayla let the feeling pass.

XX

"Where were you?" Rick asked as Kayla entered the house.

"What do you mean?" Kayla asked, taking a seat on the couch. Rick sat beside her.

"I texted you at 11:30 and you didn't respond until twelve. Was it possible that you were talking to Shane?" Rick asked.

"No, I was sleeping. But speaking of Shane, I haven't heard from him. Where had he been?"

"He wants to call you." Rick said.

"Then why hasn't he?"

"He's kind of... Afraid that he'll say something wrong."

"Really?" Kayla laughed.

"Yeah, but don't ever tell him I told you that. He gets embarrassed over those kinda of things."

"I won't say a word. Did he... Say anything else about me?"

"Yeah. He couldn't shut the hell up. He told me that you weren't like the others, you seemed cool, you were cute..."

"He really said all of that?"

"Yeah. And more. I didn't listen to him the whole time." Rick laughed. Kayla smiled.

"So... Where's your wife and Carl?"

"Ever since yesterday's incident, Lori has been wanting to spend more time with him herself. Which is ok with me, because I get to sit here and talk to you. By the way, thanks for helping to find him.

"Aww. Don't flatter me. Anyway, Lori does know that she's part of the reason he ran away, right?"

"Wait... What?"

"Yeah. When I found him, he told me that he ran away because he never got to go anywhere."

"Really? God, I feel like a shitty parent."

She reached over to touch his hand. "No... You're working half the time. Lori's the one at home all of the time."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't out all of the blame on her. As I said, we can't agree how to raise him. And the poor is feeling the tension between us, you know? I feel bad for him. I was thinking if a divorce, but that be hell for Carl."

"Divorce? Hell no."

"Kayla, people can't stay in love forever. This isn't some fairy tale. Life goes on and people get sick if each other. I mean, Lori and I got married very young. Too young. I realize that now."

Kayla gasped. "Don't think like that."

"You won't know how it feels until you get married and have kids."

"I'm sure Lori doesn't want a divorce. Just think this through."

"Listen. Nothing is certain yet. So don't tell her anything or 'drop hints'. Got me?"

"Yeah..." Kayla said. She wished they she could fix this.

"So... How's teaching?" Rick asked, changing the subject quickly.

"It's good. Not as good as it used to be."

"Not as good? What do you mean?"

"The kids just get worse every year. I just don't think I want to do it anymore. Seriously."

"Don't think like that."

Kayla laughed. "Yeah. I just can't really take it anymore."

"Yes you can. Give it some time. It will get good again, trust me. We all have times like this, when we get sick of our jobs. But they get better. Just give it time."

"You really think?"

"Yeah. As long as you love doing it."

"I do."

"Then give it time."

"I will. Thanks. Wow... You're like a therapist."

Rick laughed. "Oh really."

"Yeah. Can I get more advice?" Kayla asked, tilting her head playfully.

"Just ask."

"So, about Shane... Should I call him or wait? I know you're a guy and everything but I'm sure you know something."

"Well, I can try to convince him to call you."

"That might be nice. But what if he doesn't listen?"

"If he doesn't call in a few days, call him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, he should call on a few days. If he doesn't, he's a fool."

"A... Fool?" Kayla had no idea why he had just said that.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I just don't see why he wouldn't call you. You had a good time the other night, right?"

"Hell yeah."

"Then.. He'll call. Shane just don't want to admit it, but he sometimes had no idea what to do, you know? He's just afraid to say something bad, trust me."

"Ok. Thanks."

"Anytime."

They sat in complete silence for a few seconds. It wasn't that there was nothing to say, they just didn't want to say it and ruin the moment.

Suddenly, Ricks phone chimed, screwing with the moment. Rick picked it up and looked at it.

"It's my wife." He said, and Kayla got up.

"Wait." Rick said, and she sat back down.

"What?" Kayla asked.

"Lori's at chuck-E-Cheeses and she wants me and you to come. She even gave me your number. Want to come?"

Kayla smiled and nodded.


	6. A Little Trip

"So, has Carl ever been to a Chuck-E-Cheeses before?" Kayla asked Rick as they drove.

"Yeah, but he was really young then and all of the older kids kept taking up the games and rides. And whenever Carl got a turn, they would badger him until he got off." Rick replied.

"Why didn't you yell at the older kids or something. I would've." Kayla said, staring out of the car window. It was turning into a beautiful day outside. There wasn't a single cloud in the bright blue sky.

"I wasn't there the first time he went, when all of that happened. But the next time we went with him, I did come. I took him there right after I got off work, and I didn't even change into a regular outfit. So, nobody messed with him that time, because who wants to mess with a cop's kid?" Rick laughed.

Kayla laughed. "I wouldn't. I don't even know why teenagers go to Chuck-E-Cheeses anyway."

"They want to torture little kids."

"Little assholes." Kayla sighed. She knew all about teenagers. She did teach them, after all.

"Yeah. I can't wait for Carl to grow up." Rick said, laughing.

"Yeah. I bet you are excited."

They arrived at Chuck-E-Cheeses in ten minutes flat. Kids were going inside, jumping around, and some were getting in their cars to go home, carrying toys and rubber bouncy balls.

Kayla and Rick got out of the car and headed into the arcade-like joint. Before they went in, they had to pass through "security", which was just some guy who put numbered stamps on kids and their parents, to ensure that no kid got taken. If a kid left with an adult with a different number on their stamp, the adult would probably get in big trouble. With the police.

"No kids with you?" The guard asked Kayla and Rick.

"No. The kid that we're looking for is already here." Kayla said.

"Alright, but you still need a stamp." The man told them, and Kayla and Rick held out their wrists. The stamps were nearly invisible, and the guards had to use some kind of strange light to see them on the way out.

They walked into the actual arcade. Kayla did a quick scan of the place. She couldn't see Lori and Carl right off the bat. All she could see were a bunch of kids running around and playing games.

"Where are they?" Kayla asked.

"Text her." Rick said.

"Why can't you?" Kayla asked, pulling out her phone.

"My phone isn't on."

Kayla shot a quick text to Lori and surveyed the room once again. Something caught her eye, but it wasn't Carl or Lori. A bunch of kids, teenagers actually, we're surrounding some young kid playing a race car game. They were shouting things at him, and trying to push him away from the game.

"Stop!" The little kid shouted.

Quickly, Kayla rushed into action. She ran over to the game.

"Hey! Knock it off!" She shouted at the teenagers. They all turned to look at her.

"What're you gonna do lady?" One of the boys shouted at Kayla.

Kayla turned to glare at the boy. She almost died when she saw the boy's face, it was Barry Clancy.

"Barry?" Kayla said, smiling.

Barry recognized Kayla right away. "Oh shit." His face went white. "Let's go guys." He told his friends. They went hauling ass.

"Thanks." The little kid told Kayla in a cute voice.

"No problem, little guy." Kayla told the kid, smiling at him.

Kayla turned around and saw Rick.

"What were you doing?" He asked her.

"I was helping the kid! They were gonna push him off of the game or something!" Kayla said.

Rick laughed. "Did Lori text you back yet?"

Kayla had forgotten about Lori. She was too caught up in helping that little kid. She quickly pulled out her phone and checked her messages. The latest one was from 2 minutes ago. Sure enough, it was from Lori.

We're at one of the tables by the stage. You know, the one that the mechanical robot Chuck-E-Cheese is singing on? Meet us over there.

"She's over there." Kayla told Rick, pointing towards the area with all of the tables. She looked around and spotted Lori. She was sitting at a table close to the stage. But where was Carl? She looked around. Nothing. Then she spotted him on the stage, dancing next to Chuck-E-Cheese.

"Hey!" Kayla called, running up to her friend's table.

"Oh hi." Lori said, getting up and hugging her friend.

"Hey honey." Rick said after Kayla and Lori broke off.

"Hi." Lori said, pulling her husband in for a hug and a kiss. Then they began to talk about something that Kayla couldn't hear because-

"KAYLA!" Carl shouted, jumping off of the stage. He was speeding towards Kayla. Kayla pulled him into a bear hug.

"Hey little guy." Kayla told the boy, ruffling his hair.

"Come here." Carl said, leading Kayla back towards the small stage.

"What?" Kayla asked.

"Get up here." Carl said, climbing up onto the stage.

Kayla followed. She thought that she might have been to old to do that, but whatever. What were they going to do, kick her out? Please. "What do you do up here?" She asked Carl.

Then, out of nowhere, Chuck-E-Cheese began to song loudly, startling Kayla.

"Shit!" She shouted, not even realizing what she had just said.

"You just said a curse word." Carl informed her.

"I'm sorry." She said, ruffling his hair again.

"It's ok." Carl said. Then he jumped down from the stage. "Shane's coming back!" He shouted.

"Shane?" Kayla said weakly. She stood on the stage. She watched as Shane approached, two large pizzas in his hand. He placed them on the table. "They're hot, be careful." He told Carl.

Kayla stood on the stage a few more moments, stunned. Why didn't anybody tell her that Shane was coming? She probably looked terrible. She hid behind Chuck-E-Cheese, hoping that nobody would see her. But the damn robot's head and body kept moving around, so she was basically in the open. Then a bunch of small kids climbed onto the stage. Kayla got off the stage so that they could play or whatever they were doing.

She walked over to Lori's table. Everyone was sitting down, helping themselves to slices of pizza.

"Hey." She said, taking a seat at the table.

Shane looked up from his piece of pizza and right into her eyes. "Kayla?" He asked her.

Oh great. She probably did look like shit. "Hi Shane." She said, unsure of what else she should say.

Shane got up and sat at another table, one right to Lori's. "Come here." Shane told Kayla.

"You guys mind?" Kayla asked Lori, Carl, and Rick. They all nodded no.

Kayla got up and moved to Shane's table.

"Wassup? I didn't know you were going to be here." He said as soon as she sat down.

"Same." Kayla said.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

Kayla thought for a moment.

"They set us up!" They both shouted in unison.

Then they both cracked up.

"Oh, wow." Kayla said.

"Well, how did ya think Lori got here? I'm the one who gave her a ride." Shane said.

"I thought that she took a bus, maybe Rick dropped her off, who knows. I literally didn't know that she went to you for rides."

"Well, she said Rick was sleeping in real late, so she wanted me to bring her and Carl here."

"So even Rick knew about this? Why the hell didn't he tell me?"

"Are you guys tight or somethin'?"

"Kind of. I'm just surprised."

"Well, I guess that's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah." Kayla said, smiling at him.

He smiled back. Kayla felt warm inside.

"HEY GUYS WANNA PLAY SOME GAMES WITH ME?" Carl shouted louder than needed at Kayla and Shane.

"Um..." Kayla looked over at Rick and Lori. Lori shot Kayla a "I'm sorry my son ruined the moment" grin. Or at least that's what Kayla hoped that it was.

"Come on." Shane said, getting up. Kayla did the same.

"What would you like to play?" Kayla asked Carl.

"That." Carl pointed to some shooting game.

"Ok... Do we need to insert money or something?" Kayla said, examining the machine.

"No. I just need to slide this in that slot." Carl said, showing Kayla a card that said "tokens" on it.

Shane snickered.

"What? I'm sorry I've never played a game at Chuck-E-Cheese before." Kayla said.

"No worries. It's just... You're cute when you're clueless." Shane said.

"Ew." Carl said, beginning his game.

Kayla laughed and gave Shane a little smack on the face.

"Ow!" He joked, pretending to grab his face in pain.

"Shut up." She said, shoving him.

"Damn, teachers can be abusive. I didn't know that." Shane joked.

"Anybody else wanna play?" Carl asked.

"Sure, but I don't have card." Kayla said.

"Just use mine." Carl said, handing the card to her without taking his eyes off of the game.

Kayla swiped the card and began to play. "What are we killing?" She asked Carl.

"The aliens." He told her.

"What about that blue person? Is that you?"

"Yeah."

And so they played the game. Kayla was a helpless shot. She barely even hit any aliens.

"I'm not going to do all of the work while you stand there!" Carl shouted.

"I don't even know what I'm doing!" Kayla shouted back. She felt like a child all of a sudden, playing games and shouting. It was surprisingly fun.

Shane laughed. "Shut up!" Kayla yelled at him.

"Mature." Shane said.

"Yeah." Kayla said. Then, some words popped up on the screen. "Insert tokens to continue!" And there were numbers counting down.

The words were on Carl's screen too. "Let's just play another game." Carl said, smacking the screen.

"Alright, just tell us what you want to do." Kayla said. She had a surprising amount of fun just playing a game with a kid, and she wanted to do it again.

"Actually, I wanna play in the funhouse thing." Carl said, pointing to it. There were tons of tiny kids inside of there, running around with their bare feet and screaming.

"Are you serious?" Kayla asked.

"Yeah." Carl said. He headed towards the playhouse and pulled his shoes off.

"Keep your socks on!" Shane shouted after Carl. Carl listened to him and climbed inside of the play house, socks still on his feet.

"Who knows what foot fungus Carl could get up there with bare feet." Shane said.

"I know right?" Kayla said, laughing.

"So... Uh..." Shane started.

"What?" Kayla asked him, cocking her head to the side.

"I'm sorry about not um.. You know, not callin' you. I was pretty busy." He told her.

Kayla smiled because she knew the real truth behind the reason he didn't call. "No problem, I understand." She said, smiling warmly at him.

"Well, since we're here now, how about we go on a date Tuesday? You know, a movie or something?" He asked.

"Sure. I love movies." Kayla smiled. Finally! They were going on their second date.

"Good."

"I gotta run to the bathroom." Kayla said, rushing off. When she got in bathroom, she texted Lori immediately. Lori was in the bathroom in 30 seconds flat.

"What?" She asked Kayla, rushing over to the sinks.

Kayla looked in the mirror at herself. Her hair was slightly crazy, a bit frizzy, and her lips were in need of some moisture.

Kayla turned to Lori. Luckily, the bathroom was empty, so they had time to talk alone. That is, until someone walked in on them.

"Why didn't you tell me he was coming? I look like shit!" Kayla told Lori.

"I wanted to surprise you." Lori said.

"Well, I'm surprised all right."

"I would've told you. How did you think I got here?"

"Maybe a bus. Maybe Rick dropped you off."

"And left me here and went back home?" Lori laughed. "I promised Carl we would go today, so he was badgering me all morning. Rick was sleeping in, and I didn't feel like waking him up. So I called Shane. A little bit later, Rick called me like 'where are you?' He must've thought I left him or something. He called me right after he woke up, I could tell because he was pretty groggy. Must've got up, didn't see me and Carl, and got paranoid. I mean, if I left, I would've taken all of my stuff with me. He didn't even look around apparently."

Kayla wasn't surprised that Rick thought that Lori had left him, but she didn't say it. "Well, Shane asked me on another date." She said.

"What? Where?" Lori asked.

"The movies."

"Aw, good luck. Second date. That's a big one."

"Yeah, but what I really have to worry about is the third date. If we even get to there."

"What's so great about the third date?" Lori thought for a moment. "Oh... Yeah." She said, finally getting it.

"Yeah." Kayla said.

"So, how's my boy doing?"

"He's good. I just played a game with him, and now he's in the playhouse."

"The playhouse? Isn't that for little kids?"

"I know. But Carl really wanted to play in it, and who could deny him?"

"Who's watching him now? Shane?"

"Yeah." Kayla said. Then she heard a toilet flush and a stall door click open. Kayla looked at Lori in horror. So the bathroom wasn't empty after all.

A short, chubby, blond woman walked towards the sink and turned it on. Was she listening to them? Why the hell did she care what they were saying.

Kayla wanted to tell her off or something, but decided against it.

Kayla motioned for Lori to follow, and they headed out of the bathroom.

"What the hell?" Kayla asked Lori as soon as they were out of the bathroom.

"Who knows. Maybe she listens to everyone." Lori replied.

"I don't see why she cares. Nosy bitch."

"Maybe she was just going to the bathroom for a long time."

"I doubt it."

Then they split. Lori went back to her table, and Kayla went back to the playhouse, where Shane was still standing.

"He's still in there?" Kayla asked Shane.

"Yeah. He's havin fun apparently. Let him." Shane replied.

"Ok... Do you want some ice cream or something?" She asked.

"Yeah." Shane said, pulling out some money. He handed it to Kayla.

"I'll pay." Kayla said, shoving the money back at him.

"Naw. It's only ice cream."

"Fine." Kayla scoffed and began to walk away, towards the ice cream machine.

"Fudge bar!" Shane called after her.

"Ok!" Kayla called back. She approached the machine, shoved the money in, and got Shane's bar. Then she bought a plain vanilla come dipped in chocolate for herself. She headed back over to Shane, handing him his ice cream and the leftover change.

"Thanks." Shane said.

"No problem." Kayla said, smiling at him.

Kayla and Shane opened their ice creams just as Carl ran out of the playhouse.

"It's horrible in there. Little kids were blocking everywhere, it smelled like feet, and some kid threw up." He told them.

"Oh wow. Let's just stick to games then." Kayla said.

"Ok. Can I get an ice cream?" Carl asked.

"Yep." Kayla said. "What kind do you want?"

"Same as Shane." Carl said.

Kayla walked over to the machine again and got Carl his ice cream. She walked back over and gave it to him.

"Thanks." Carl said, smiling.

"You're welcome." Kayla said, and they lead Carl back to his table.

"Honey, we have to go soon." Lori told Carl as he sat down.

"What? But I want to play more games!" Carl protested.

"What do you say, hon?" Lori asked her husband.

"I say we let him stay here. He likes it. He's having fun." Rick replied.

Lori sighed. Kayla knew they she had wanted rick to agree with her. "Ok." She said.

Carl cheered.

XX

They didn't end up leaving until 2 hours later. Carl played a ton more games, won a few bags of cotton candy, and ate more food.

"How are you getting home?" Lori asked Kayla as they were about to leave.

"I'll go with Shane." Kayla said.

"Ok." Lori said.

Shane drove Kayla home. And right before she got out of the car. She smiled at Shane. "Thanks for the ride." She told him, leaning closer. She was secretly hoping for a kiss from him, even a little peck on the cheek would do.

"No worries." He said, smiling. But no kiss.

Kayla wanted to scream. She got out of the car and went inside of her house, giving Shane one last wave as he drove away.

XX

Tuesday. Tuesday. That was the only thought on Kayla's mind. But it was only Monday. Shit, she thought, getting up.

She pulled her clothes on and got ready for the day. Only one more day to deal with until she went on her date with Shane. She felt like a teenager, getting all giddy about going out with a guy.

She headed to school, a smile on her face.

"Hello everyone." She greeted her first class as they walked into the room.

Every teen in the room looked at each other like "what the hell?" Kayla never greeted her students so cheerfully.

"Miss Hammond!" Barry called as he raised his hand.

"Yes?" Kayla asked him.

"You didn't have to what you did the other day. Now nobody wants to talk to me." Barry complained. Kayla had no idea why he was bringing this up during class. He probably wanted attention, like always.

"I had to. You were pestering a little kid at Chuck-E-Cheese." Kayla answered. The class turned to look at Barry.

Barry sighed. "Ok. Whatever. I saw you flirting with your boyfriend or husband or whatever. Then I saw you with this other guy, and then I saw you buying ice cream for your son. You have two boyfriends, miss Hammond?"

What was he, trying to embarrass her? Please. It was going to take a lot more than that. He was talking about Rick, Shane, and Carl. No way was Kayla letting this kid think he knew all about her. Why was he watching her anyway?

Kayla just laughed. "No." She said. Then she began to crack up. She couldn't help it. Carl her son? Rick and Shane her two boyfriends.

The class turned to look at each other.

XX

The rest of the day went by smoothly. But when she went home, Kayla had a mess of papers to grade. It took two whole hours.

Kayla went to bed exhausted. But she kept a smile on her face, because tomorrow was Tuesday.


	7. Sleepover? I think not.

Kayla rushed home after work. It had been an exhausting day. Her fourth period class had been hell, and, in fact, so were all of the others. She had given out a surprise pop quiz-what a mistake. The classes were moaning and groaning as she handed the quiz out, some kids even refused to take it.

Kayla let them know that refusing to take the quiz wasn't an option, but that didn't change anything. She ended up giving out 3 zeroes on the quiz, to the three kids who didn't bother to even write their names on the paper.

At lunch, Kayla didn't end up talking to Lori. She talked to Shane. He had ended up calling her before she had even picked up her phone to call Lori. She answered the phone quickly.

"Hey." She said into the phone.

"Hi." Shane replied.

"What's up?" She asked, instantly regretting it. How lame was 'what's up'?

"Where are you?" He asked.

"I'm at school." She told him.

"School?"

"Yeah. I work as a teacher, remember?" She asked jokingly. It had been a little bit since they had last met, but not long enough to literally forget each other's occupations!

"Oh yeah, sorry. Can you talk right now?" He asked.

"It's fine. I can talk. I'm on lunch."

"Same here. I'm a cop, remember?"

"Yeah I remember."

"So... What time do you want me to pick you up at?"

"Um..."

"Seven? Eight? We're going to the movies. We can watch the 7:00 showing, or go at 8 and see the one at 9."

"Eight. What are we seeing?" Kayla said. That way, she would have more time to get ready and actually look presentable. Even if she did have five or six hours to actually get ready before eight as soon as she got home, she knew how time could fly by. And she didn't need to have Shane arrive at her house and BOOM! Kayla's not ready.

"Some scary movie." He told her. Uh oh. Kayla was no good with scary movies. She didn't like them, not one bit. But no way she was going to tell Shane that. At least he would be there for her to bury her head in his shoulder when she got scared, right? Then one thing would lead to another...

"Ya there?" Kayla heard Shane say.

"Yeah." Kayla answered quickly.

"So 8?" He asked her.

"Yep." She said.

"Okay. See ya then." He told her, hanging up.

Was that supposed to be a goodbye? Kayla thought. She dialed Lori's number, but it was too late. The bell that signaled all kids to report to their sixth period classes had rung, forcing her to end the call before it had even begun.

XX

Kayla got ready in a rush as soon as she got home. She threw on a pair of leggings and a cute top, and fixed her hair and make up. But as she was applying her make up, she noticed the grossness that was a zit. It was huge.

"Ugh." Kayla said to herself as she squeezed the zit. Nothing. She tried again, this time squeezing harder. Still nothing.

"Oh my god, go away." Kayla said as she squeezed again. Again, she got no results, so she just gave up. Nothing a little make up couldn't fix, right? Anyway, she and Shane would be in a dark movie theater, so he wouldn't really see her anyway.

Kayla was ready, this time with 2 hours to spare. She breathed a sigh of relief and flicked on the TV. Then she called Lori.

"Good luck." Was how Lori answered when she picked up.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kayla asked her friend.

"I'm just wishing you the best." Lori said.

"I'm not going to a doctor's appointment." Kayla said. "Any last tips?"

Lori laughed. "See Kayla? This is why I wished you good luck. You're clueless, honey."

"I got that. I asked for tips, not insults."

"Calm down. I was just joking. All I can say is... Um.. Do whatever you did on your first date. That seemed to work."

"Whatever. At least that's something. Thanks Lor." Kayla said.

"Sure, anything. When's he picking you up?"

"Anytime now. He's supposed to picking me up at 8, but you never know. He might be early." Kayla said. She walked over to the window and peeked out. There was still nothing or nobody out there.

"Well then, I better get going. See you. Have fun. Bye."

"Bye." Kayla said, hanging up.

XX

Shane picked Kayla up at 7:45. He texted her to let her know that he was there. The text was a simple "I'm here".

Kayla did a quick check in the mirror to make sure she looked fine, slipped on her shoes, and rushed outside.

She slipped into Shane's car and rode shotgun.

"Hi." She greeted, smiling at him.

"Hi. How are ya?" He asked.

"I'm good. So this movie we are seeing... It's supposed to be scary?"

"Yeah. Piss your pants scary. None a that kiddie scary shit."

Kayla laughed. "What do you mean, 'kiddie scary shit'." She asked.

"Ya know, scary look in' stuffed animals jumpin' out at ya. This is gonna be the real stuff. Hope ya can handle it."

"Oh, I can. Don't be worried about me." She joked, even though she was probably going to close her eyes through the whole thing.

"Good." Shane laughed.

They rode in silence for a few minutes. Kayla wanted to say something, anything, but she just didn't know what. Why was it that she could talk to anyone else carefree, but when it came to Shane she had no words?

A few minutes later, Shane pulled up at a corner store.

"What are we doing here?" Kayla asked.

"What do ya think? We're gettin' candy. You never did this before?" Shane told her.

"Really?" Kayla asked. She did the same thing whenever she went to movies.

"Yeah. It's much better here, we have more selections, plus it's less pricey. Ya know?" Shane told her.

"I agree. Actually, I do this every time I go to a movie." Kayla laughed. Lori had always called her a weirdo for going out to get candy beforehand. "Why can't you just get it there? Why do we have to spend 20 dollars on candy before we even go?" Lori would ask.

"We have more choices." Kayla would reply.

"You wanna go in with me?" Shane asked, snapping Kayla out of her trance.

"I will." Kayla said, falling headiest back into reality.

They got out of the car and headed inside.

"Look at all of this." Kayla said, gaping at all of the candy in the store, which was lined up around the check out counter.

"See? More choices." Shane said. Kayla laughed and walked up to the counter and picked up a box of sour patch kids, Swedish fish, and two boxes of snow caps.

"You going to get anything?" Kayla asked Shane, turning to face him.

"A course. I'm just thinkin'." Shane scratched his head, and picked up two bags of Gummi Bears.

They picked out a bunch of other things, and finally checked out.

"Woah. Somebody's kids are going to be off the wall tonight." The cashier joked.

Kayla threw her head back and snorted in derision.

"No, it's for us." Shane told the guy.

"Oh. Just don't eat all of it at once, hear me?" The guy said.

Shane smiled at the man and winked. "Gotcha."

"And your total is... 25.50." The cashier told them. Kayla laughed.

"Seriously?" She asked the cashier.

"Seriously." The man said.

Shane pulled out his wallet and payed the man. Kayla glared at him. Shane replied with a confused glare, to which Kayla smiled slightly, but didn't laugh.

Kayla and Shane grabbed their bags filled with candy and headed out of the store.

"Why'd ya glare at me like that?" Shane asked Kayla.

"I was just going to pay, and then you payed instead." Kayla answered. Shane unlocked the car and he and Kayla slipped back inside.

"Never met a girl so eager to pay. I like it." Shane laughed and handed Kayla a few of the bags of their candy. Kayla took it and set it on her lap, same as she had done all of the other ones.

"Of course you do." Kayla joked.

XX

"It's so fucking dark in here." Kayla commented as she and Shane walked down the aisle of the movie theater to find a seat.

"Let's get a seat back here." Shane said, pointing towards the row in the very back. There were hardly any people in the theater, so most of the seats were free.

"Sounds good to me." Kayla said, and she and Shane walked halfway down the row.

"Hope no kids come in here." Shane said. He pulled the box of Sno-Caps out of one of the candy bag. He opened it up and poured some in his hand. He looked at Kayla. "Want some?" He asked her.

"I'm good." Kayla said, putting a handful of extremely salty popcorn in her mouth.

"Your loss." Shane said.

"So glad we came early. I love watching the previews." Kayla said.

"Seriously?" Shane asked her.

Kayla cracked up. "Sarcasm, silly." She said, smacking his arm playfully.

"I knew that."

"Of course you did."

"SHANE? OH MY GOSH, IS THAT YOU?" Kayla heard someone shout. Kayla and Shane turned their heads at the exact same time to see a pretty brunette woman approaching them. She was tall and extremely pretty. Kayla scowled. How did this woman know Shane.

"Hannah?" Shane asked.

"It's me." The girl waved and sat in the seat to Shane's right, since Kayla was sitting to his left. "Please don't tell me they had a thing going on," Kayla thought to herself.

"I haven't seen you since high school. How have you been?" Shane was smiling brightly at this girl, and Kayla didn't like it at all.

"Good. Look at you... You look so... Different. But in a good way." Hannah purred, touching Shane's arm. Kayla decided that it was quite enough.

"Excuse me." Kayla snapped. Both Hannah and Shane glared at her.

"Who's blondie?" Hannah asked Shane.

"I have a name." Kayla said.

"What is it?" Hannah asked.

"Kayla. And by the way, Shane is my BOYFRIEND." Kayla said.

"How long?" Hannah said, backing away from Shane. Kayla smiled.

"Not long." Shane answered. "It's our second date."

"Aw, how sweet." Hannah said. She inched closer to Shane once again. Kayla scowled once again.

Then the movie began.

"Isn't it funny, how we are both seeing the same movie?" Hannah asked Shane.

"It's hilarious." Kayla answered for Shane, slightly annoyed. They both glared at her again. Why the hell was Shane on this girl's side?

"So... The last time we went out..." Hannah laughed. "I don't even remember where we went? Where did we go?" She asked Shane.

"The movie is on. Can you be quiet?" Kayla snapped.

"We just went to the park." Shane whispered.

Kayla rested her head on Shane's shoulder. She knew that making a move like that May have been a little fast, but she didn't care. She already hated Hannah, and this would probably shut her up.

Kayla was aware of both of their eyes on her, but she just payed attention to the screen like it was the most interesting thing on the planet.

Hannah sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Scared already?" Shane asked Kayla playfully.

"No... I was just uncomfortable." Kayla whispered back.

"This movie sucks." Hannah said. People turned towards the three people to shush them.

"Why don't you turn around and mind your own business?" Kayla shouted at them. Most of them turned back around.

"It's only been a few minutes." Shane said to Hannah.

"Whatever." Hannah answered.

"I gotta get up." Shane told Kayla, and she removed her head from his shoulder.

Shane walked out, and Kayla glared at Hannah. Hannah glared back.

"So... You were Shane's girl in highschool?" Kayla asked, even though the lat thing she wanted to do was talk to this girl. But she had to know more about her.

"Yeah." Hannah answered, not looking away from the screen.

"And why do you still talk to him now?" Kayla asked.

"Because I can? I don't see why you care so much. I know you're his girlfriend, but we don't do anything together. Trust me."

"Sure doesn't seem like it." Kayla wanted to say. But she decided to just ignore Hannah. Then something scary happened on the screen, and Kayla jumped out of her seat. Where was Shane? She needed his shoulder right about now.

Kayla stuffed a Handful of popcorn in her mouth. Then another one.

"Somebody likes to eat." Hannah commented.

"Why do you care?" Kayla snapped. "You know, if you think that this movie is so bad, why don't you just leave? Nobody really wants you to stay."

"You're just jealous."

"Jealous? You're funny."

"You are. Unless you're just a bitch."

"I'll have you know-" Kayla started, only to be interrupted by Shane, who was finally back and walking towards his seat. He sat down.

"You ladies havin' a nice chat?" Shane asked.

"Yeah." Kayla answered, once again burying her head in his shoulder.

XX

When the movie had finally ended, Hannah had went her own way, much to Kayla's satisfaction. She gave Shane a little wave goodbye, and he just shook his head.

During the ride home, Shane asked Kayla what was wrong.

"Nothing." She replied. They hadn't even eaten much of their candy, so they were each taking half home.

"What were you and Hannah talking about? Ya know, when I left?" He asked.

"Nothing. I think she still has a thing for you."

"Yeah. We went out in high school, and I dumped her because I was seeing another girl. It was a mess. She didn't come to school for two weeks in a row. I felt like shit, but it was better than letting her catch me with the other girl. Hell, me and the other didn't even last a month. Me and Hannah, we went out for awhile. Almost a year." Shane said.

Kayla was quite shocked to hear this. Shane dumped a girl that he was seeing for awhile to go see some other girl that he had only ended up seeing for a month? She had no idea what to say, so she just stared out of the window.

"You okay?" Shane asked.

"I'm fine." Kayla answered.

"How about we head over to my place for a bit? You know, hang out and watch TV for a bit? By ourselves."

"Just take me home." Kayla said. She wanted go home with him, really wanted to, but she knew that she just couldn't. She had to go home, lay in her bed, and think about all of this. Then she would call Lori and ask her opinion. Then she would spend a day with Rick and talk to him.

"Whatever you say. Want to go out again Friday? We'll spend the day at my place and watch a movie, no Hannah involved."

Maybe Shane wasn't so bad after all. Just because Hannah still seemed to be into Shane, it didn't mean that he was into her.

But that didn't change the fact that she needed to talk to Lori and Rick first, get their opinions. She knew that she should be making decisions on her own, but this was an emergency to her.

And emergencies required a team of helpers. And that team would be a man and his wife, both with the last name Grimes.


	8. Chapter 8: A Leap Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to my new beta, rocknrollprincess131. The comments and corrections mean so much to me. :) 
> 
> WARNING: Slight sexual content

"Rick, it was horrible." Kayla told Rick, allowing a loud sigh to escape her lips. She had come home from work, slept for a few hours and finally ended up calling Rick and coming over to his house. Lori was out bowling with Carl.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked her. They were sitting outside again, because it was a very nice day out. It was also extremely hot inside the house. Rick stared at Kayla, awaiting her answer.

"The date. It was just... Bad." She said, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. But how?" He asked, running a hand through his own hair, which was sticky with sweat.

"There was another girl. This bitch named Hannah. Apparently she was Shane's girlfriend in high school, and she still likes him. She was just bothering us the whole time. It was so annoying." Kayla said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh Hannah. I remember her." Rick rolled his eyes as well, which made Kayla laugh.

"Was she as bad as she is now?"

"Even worse. She had to come whenever Shane and I were going somewhere. I mean, she was his girlfriend, but did she really have to come to the sports bar to watch games with us? I mean, she knew nothing about sports at all and she kept asking 'is that good for us?' whenever something happened in the game. She didn't even know what team we were rooting for, even though we were all wearing jerseys!" Rick threw his head back and laughed. This made Kayla glad, she never saw him laugh so much.

"Eh, I'm not big into sports either. But that still sounds annoying."

"Yeah. Would you follow Shane everywhere?"

"No, he'd think that I was a freak."

Rick laughed. "How did he react to seeing Hannah again?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?" He asked, cocking a brow.

"Well, at first, he seemed happy to see her, but as he was taking me Homs he invited me to his house and he was all like 'it can be just us, no Hannah.' So I have no idea what he was thinking. Did he want to see her? Or was he pretending to like seeing her but he really wanted to be with me?"

Rick didn't talk for a few moments, unsure of what to tell her. He honestly had no idea. "Hmm... Maybe I should talk to him, and try to push it out of him." He finally said.

"Really? You would?" Kayla asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. He is my friend, after all. He'll pretty much tell me anything. Also, I just want to ask, he really invited you over to his place?"

"Yeah." Kayla looked around the room nervously. "You think that he wanted to..." She trailed off, but he knew what she meant.

"Probably." He answered honestly. He knew Shane well enough to know that he wouldn't invite a girl over his house without having sex on his brain. Would any guy really?

"Wow, already? We didn't even kiss yet!" Kayla said in shock.

Rick shrugged. "That's Shane for you. That's why his relationships never last, he always jumps into sex too quickly." He said, looking at Kayla's face.

"Do you think that we're not going to work out?" She asked, her eyes wide.

"Of course I do. I mean, he talks about you more than he ever did other girls. He seems to really like you. Just don't be alarmed if he tries to make a move. Just... Make sure you let him know that you're not ready if you're not ready."

"What if he tried to push me into it?"

"Then he doesn't like you too much." He saw Kayla's expression, which looked horrified, and decided to add something else. "He won't though."

"You think?"

"I think."

Kayla smiled warmly at him. "Thanks." She said. Then she leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. It should have felt awkward, but it didn't. It felt right, not in the sense that she was attracted to him, but more of a best friends thing. She may have the tiniest bit of feelings for Rick, but she never thought of it that way. This was her best friend's husband, for god's sake. He probably didn't think of her as more than a friend, anyway. So why even think about it?

"Is this... Weird?" Kayla asked him quietly.

"No." He replied.

Kayla smiled. "What if Lori walked out here right now?"

Rick chuckled. "She would get the wrong idea."

"She would probably kick me out of here and not talk to me for a long, long time. I mean, why does she care about you having female friends anyway? We love in America."

Rick laughed. "We do, but it doesn't seem like it in this house. Lori always has something to complain about, whenever I do something. If I had a female friend, especially you, she would flip out and think that I was having an affair. Trust me, I'll i know her. She knows that we talk, but she only thinks we do so around her."

"She's so..." Kayla started.

"So what?"

"I don't know. I don't have the words. I don't get her sometimes. Even though she's my best friend, sometimes I don't know her at all. I know it sounds cliche, but that's just how I feel."

"I know exactly what you mean. She's my wife and I feel that way."

Kayla nodded in understanding. "How are you two doing? You know, if you don't mind me asking."

"I don't mind. We're doing okay." He said. Kayla could tell that he was lying.

"Really?" Kayla asked. She didn't want to poke and probe at him too much, but she wanted to know a little something so that she could help. But if he didn't want to tell, that would be okay. But it would hurt her a little, considering how close they were.

"No. I feel it's getting worse. Like we're drifting apart even more now. We can never talk about anything without it ending in an argument." He finally admitted.

Kayla lifted her head up. "You'll be okay."

That wasn't enough for Rick. "I'm thinking about trying marriage counseling. Don't tell Lori this... But I've been looking at pamphlets for places."

Kayla widened her eyes at him. Like many times before, she was speechless.

"Do you think that it will help?" Rick asked.

"I guess... What are you going to tell Carl?"

"I don't know yet. I don't even know if we're going to do it yet."

Kayla reached up and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry..." Was all that she could say.

"It's not your fault." He said, staring at the sky. "You shouldn't have to apologize. You don't need to."

"Well I..." Kayla started, but she was cut off by Rick's phone ringing.

"Hello." He said as soon as he answered. "Oh, hi sweetie. Yeah... Just hanging out... No... Yeah, that's fine. Ok. Love you." Rick hung up, a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" Kayla asked.

"She's coming home in a few hours, but she didn't even say that she loved me." Tears were in his eyes. Kayla could sort of feel how hurt he was.

"Maybe she just forgot." Kayla said.

"She couldn't of. It's not like that when you're married to someone. 'I love you' is the first thing you think of to say. But you wouldn't know that, considering you've never been in love before like I have. Not trying to insult you or anything, but you really won't know how I feel until you're in love."

"I see. Listen..." Kayla said, trying to think of how to change the subject. "Should I call Shane?"

"If you want. It's really your choice."

"Alright." Kayla said. "Thanks once again Rick. I'm going to head home now." Kayla got up.

"Wait..." Rick said.

"What?" Kayla asked.

Rick opened his arms and Kayla smiled. She hugged him and left, feeling much better than she did before she came here.

XX

Lori sipped her Pepsi slowly, watching Carl roll his bowling ball down the lane. She smiled as she watched her small son trying so hard to knock pins down. They had the bumpers on, so it was easier for him. He also had a really light ball.

But he rolled the ball down the lane so slowly, it barely had enough force to knock down one pin. But he was trying. It was his first time after all.

Lori felt pretty bad, because she had never taken him bowling before. He was already having a ton of fun doing it, and Lori loved to watch him.

"Watch this mom!" Carl instructed. Lori smiled at him and watched as he practically chucked the ball down the lane. It rolled and rolled, until it finally hit the pins. He hit 5 of them, and it seemed to make him very happy. It made Lori happy too.

"Good job, honey." Lori told her son, smiling at him.

Carl smiled back at her.

"Hey there beautiful." A man said to Lori from behind. Lori snapped her head around to look at him. He was a tall, skinny guy with dark hair and dark brown eyes.

"Do I know you?" Lori asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"No, but you'd like to." He smiled at her.

"I'm sure that I would. Maybe my husband, who is a sheriff, would like to know you too."

The man's face went white. "Oh... Sorry, I didn't see the ring." He turned and walked away.

"Yeah right." Lori mumbled. She looked back over at her son and smiled. She was used to random guys hitting on her, like any girl. She didn't know what was wrong with guys, why they felt the need to hit on every girl that they met. She just didn't understand it.

Suddenly, her phone rang, causing her to jump a bit. Maybe it was Rick again. She didn't know what he would want, but whatever. For some reason, she didn't really want Rick calling her just yet. She knew it was terrible to think that, she had no idea why she was thinking that, but she was.

"Hello?" She said when she answered the phone.

"Hey." It was Kayla.

"What's up?"

"I need to talk to you."

"I'm out bowling with Carl right now. Can it wait?"

"No..." Kayla said, and Lori could her shuffling noises in the background. "I'm coming to the bowling alley." She announced.

"Okay. I'll see ya."

XX

Kayla arrived exactly twenty minutes later. Carl was burning through bowling games. He already finished three of them!

Kayla sat beside Lori. As soon as Carl saw Kayla, he ran up to her and have her a hug.

"Hey honey." Kayla said, holding the boy close for a second.

"Watch me bowl!" Carl said happily, running back over to his lane.

Kayla smiled at the child. "He's so adorable." She told Lori.

"He gets that from me." Lori said, and Kayla laughed. "So anyway... What did you come here to tell me?"

"I need advice." Kayla said simply.

"Again?" Lori asked.

Kayla nodded. Then she told Lori the whole thing about Shane.

"So you're wondering whether you should call him or not?" Lori asked.

"Yeah." Kayla answered.

"It's really up to you. I mean, I think you should. You know, see if he really was happy to see Hannah, or not. You can ask him."

"What if he doesn't even want to be with me?"

Lori laughed. "That's all he wants. That's why he invited you over."

Kayla shrugged. "Thanks." Then she stood up. "Let's get some bowling shoes Lori. We're gonna bowl with Carl." She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her over to the shoe counter. They each got a pair of shoes, and then they picked out a bowling ball and joined Carl in his lane.

Carl's lit up. "You guys are gonna bowl with me?"

"Yep." Kayla started a new game and put her and Lori's names in the computer.

They finished 3 games, Lori winning the first one, Kayla winning the second, and Carl winning the third because Kayla helped him out.

"That was so much fun." Kayla stated as soon as they were done. They took off their bowling shoes and picked up their bowling balls.

"I know." Lori pulled her friend in for a hug. After she let her go, it was Carl's turn.

"Thanks." Carl told Kayla.

"No problem, honey." Kayla answered, smiling at the little boy.

XX

Kayla didn't even need to worry about whether to call Shane or not, because Shane ended up calling her. She laughed when her phone rang and she saw the caller ID.

"Hey." Shane said immediately after she answered.

"Hi." Kayla said.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about last night. I really didn't expect to see Hannah. I didn't even want to see her. I just... I didn't really want to tell her to go away, that would be pretty rude."

Kayla laughed. So he didn't want to see Hannah.

She smiled. "You should've. She was really annoying."

"I know. But I didn't wanna get hit in he face or somethin'."

"That would've been pleasant."

"Yeah... So..." Shane started.

"What?" Kayla asked.

"You want to... How does getting a pizza and watching a movie sound?"

Kayla thought for a moment. "My place or yours?" She asked after 40 seconds of silent thinking time.

"Mine. I'll pick you up." Shane said.

"Okay. See you then."

"See you then." Then he hung up. Kayla put her phone down and began to get ready. She didn't really need to get all dressed up, so she put on jeans and a T-Shirt.

She sat on the couch, waiting for Shane. She didn't why she agreed to this, maybe it was the fact that he seemed so sorry about Hannah and the bad date. Hopefully this time alone with him would go well.

XX

"What movie do you want to watch?" Shane asked Kayla. They were sitting on his couch in front of the TV. Shane was scrolling through the movies on demand, trying to find one that was suitable.

Kayla shrugged, taking a bite of her pizza. The pizza was still hot, so the cheese was extremely gooey. "Whatever you want." She said as soon as she finished chewing.

"Fine." Shane said, putting in some action movie. Kayla liked action movies. She smiled and took another bite of pizza.

She put her piece of pizza down and rested her head on Shane's shoulder, like the other night at the movies. Shane looked down at her and smiled.

They watched the movie for a bit without talking, eating at ton of pizza. About halfway through her third piece, Kayla was done. She was full.

"Uhh..." She groaned.

"What's wrong?" Shane asked her.

"I'm fucking full." Kayla said, grabbing her stomach for added dramatic effect.

"Come on. 2 and a half pieces? You're a lightweight." Shane joked.

"No, I'm just a female." Kayla said.

Shane laughed.

They watched the remainder of the movie, talking occasionally. When it ended, Shabe didn't change the movie or put something else on. Instead, he leaned in and kissed Kayla. His lips were soft and warm. Kayla kisser him back, thinking that it was about time for her big kiss.

He kissed her again, and then another time. Each kiss was becoming more heated than the last, and Kayla sure as hell wasn't complaining about it.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Shane was pulling her shirt over her head. He threw it on the floor, a smile on his face. Kayla smirked and began to unbutton his shirt, tearing the last 3 buttons because she was taking too long. Her hands traced over his chest, spotting his tattoo.

"Lil bird?" She asked between kisses.

"Don't ask." He said, crushing his lips against hers to silence her. She didn't say another word.

His hands moved to the button of her jeans, pulling them off. He marveled at the sight of her in her underwear. She kissed him again and reached for the button of his jeans, pulling them down.

He reached for the hook of her bra, and she was pulling his boxers down. She removed her hands, realizing just what she was doing. She remembered Rick's words to her: "Make sure you let him know you're not ready if you're not ready."

She grabbed his hands and pulled him away. She hooked her bra and looked at him. He looked confused.

"Shane... I don't really want to do this." She said, pulling her shirt and jeans off of the floor and pulled them on.

Shane sighed. He seemed disappointed. He pulled his own clothes on. "It's fine. Sorry." He said.

"No, it's fine. It's just... I don't think I'm ready yet. Let's just stick to kissing for right now."

"Okay." He said.

"Can you take me home now?" She asked. She had quite enough excitement for one night.

XX

Kayla lay on her bed, thinking about what she almost did. She had to admit, she did kind of want it, but she knew that it was much too early in their relationship. She didn't want to take it too fast, because then she and Shane would crash and burn. And she didn't really want that. Sure, Shane had problems, so didn't she, but she really liked him and didn't want anything to happen that would ruin them. This was her(she hated to admit it) serious relationship.

Lori had called Kayla, but she ignored it. She felt sort of bad, but she was much too tired to talk right now.


	9. Chapter 9: Temptation

AN: Sorry for the wait for this one. I was supposed to get it out on Sunday, but I got busy. So yeah, enjoy.

Big thanks to my beta, rocknrollprincess131! Thanks so much!

XX

Ring, ring, riiiing!

Ring, ring, riiing!

"Oh, shut up." Kayla said, hitting ignore on her phone once more. She was sick of hearing it ring, it had been doing so all night long. Kayla picked up her phone and looked at her missed calls.

7 missed calls from Lori

2 missed calls from Shane

1 missed call from Rick

3 missed calls from No Caller ID

Kayla felt guilty about no answering anyone's calls. Then again, she didn't want to talk to anyone about last night just yet, definitely not Shane. Maybe she would talk to Rick. But then she looked at all of the missed calls again, realizing that she was forgetting about her best friend, who had called her 7 times.

"Guess that means that I have to call her again." Kayla said to herself, dialing Lori's number.

"Girl, where have you been? You're like... Scaring me." Lori said when she picked up.

Kayla rolled her eyes, even though she knew that her friend couldn't see her. "Lori, don't talk like you're 14. I'm fine. I was just really tired after last night."

"Why? What happened?" Lori asked anxiously.

"It's a long story." Kayla lied. Truth was, she didn't feel like talking about it just yet. It was pretty embarrassing.

"I have all day."

"Fine. Shane and I were going to have sex."

"Did you? It's a little early, don't you think?"

"It was too early. That's why I kind of pulled away from him and told him that."

"You mean you refused?"

"Yeah. I mean, it felt pretty right and good at first, but then I really thought about what I was doing and realized that it was much too early."

"Good. That would've totally screwed your relationship. Totally."

"I know. That would've ended bad, and we all know it."

"Yeah. Shane is probably going to talk to Rick about it."

Kayla sighed. She didn't think about that. Rick wouldn't really say anything to her anyway, except maybe tell her that what she did was right. He was the one to give her the advice after all.

"You there?" Lori asked nervously.

"I'm here." Kayla said.

"Well, you'll never guess what's going on with Carl."

"What?" Kayla asked. She was happy that her friend was the one to change the subject, not her.

"He has a girlfriend." Lori said.

"Wait, you mean like a significant other or a friend that's a girl?" If the answer was significant other, Kayla would find it hard to believe. It wasn't that Carl wasn't a cute little boy, he was, but he seemed like the type that would be nervous to ask a girl out or even talk to one.

"A significant other kind of thing." Lori said, and Kayla could tell that she was holding back some laughter. Maybe she was joking.

Kayla laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Lori laughed.

"How did you find out?"

"He told me."

"Really? I thought that he would try to keep it a secret."

"He probably was. He told me after I told him that he wasn't old enough to walk to school by himself. He was like 'mom, I have a girlfriend, I'm a not a little kid anymore.'"

Kayla burst out laughing. "And what did you say to that?" She asked in between laughs.

"I asked him what he meant by 'I have a girlfriend', he said 'I mean that I'm going out with a girl now'. So then I said 'Oh really?' and he said 'Yes'."

"What's her name?"

"He told me that her name was Sophia."

"You think he's lying?"

"Well, there is a girl in his class named Sophia. He liked her for a few months now. He said that he told one of his friends to ask her out for him. So, I guess they're official. But what exactly are they going to do? They are little kids, neither of whom have phones!"

"Maybe they'll just talk in school."

"Maybe that's 'going out' for their age."

"Maybe they'll sit together at lunch. Maybe they'll hold hands in the hallways, or kiss in the bathrooms."

"Woah, he won't be doing all of that. Trust me."

"Oh, well thanks boss. He's a kid, that stuff is icky to him."

"Girls should still be icky to him, but he grew out of that pretty quickly, didn't he?"

"Are you implying that he will kiss this girl in the bathroom?"

"No! It's just... Do you think that he's too young for this?"

"That's up to you to decide. He's too young if you say he's too young. He's old enough if you say that he's old enough."

"I don't know."

"I think that you should have what I call a supervised date between these two."

"What the hell is that?"

"You bring Carl and this Sophia out on a date, you and/or Rick will go along on the date with them. Let's say you're going to the movies. You don't sit with Carl and his girlfriend, but you sit so that you can see them. Got what I'm saying?"

"I see. That sounds like a good idea. Where do you get these things, anyway? You have no kids and you have much more knowledge than I do."

"I work with kids every day. I talk to parents all of the time. I read magazines. These kinds of things are everywhere. You just have to look."

"Whatever. Thanks, I'll do that. Talk to you later. Oh, and good luck with Shane."

Kayla sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Bye."

XX

Kayla called Rick after that, and the two talked for a few hours. Conversation with Rick seemed to flow easier when Kayla talked with Rick. Whenever she talked with Lori, it always seemed that the conversation always ended up on some awkward topic, and Kayla had nothing to say. With Rick, it was different.

Rick told Kayla that what she had did was right, and her relationship wouldn't be ruined because of it. As a matter of fact, he said that it might make it better because having sex when you know each other well is much better than rushed sex when you only go on a few dates. He said to trust him, he knew from experience. She didn't ask for direct examples of this "experience", she just trusted him. That's just how it was with Rick.

When Kayla hung up with Rick, she felt satisfied.

XX

Shane drove to the Grimes residence in silence. He usually played music or listened to ESPN whenever he was on his way to places, but today he just didn't feel like it, and he just couldn't put his finger on the reason why.

He sighed. Rick was probably sitting at his house right now doing nothing, which was a good thing. He needed to talk him about the whole Kayla situation. He needed some "bro advice", maybe even some advice from Lori if she was around.

Shane knocked on Rick and Lori's door hard, so hard that it seemed like he was dying to get in. He hoped he wasn't freaking anybody out, especially Carl.

Shane knocked once more, and the door swing open while he was in the middle of a knock, causing him to hit the person who opened the door in the face with his fist. It was Lori. Lori put her fave in her hands.

"Ow." Lori looked up and met his gaze. "We have a doorbell, asshole." She said, laughing.

"I'm sorry. Are you ok?" He asked, moving her hand away from her face. She looked fine.

"I'm all fine. What are you here for, anyway?" She asked him, gesturing for him to go inside. He walked in.

Shane inspected the house. It seemed to be completely empty. He tried listening for even the slightest hint of a life form other than Lori, but he heard nothing. "Is Rick here?" He asked Lori.

"No, he's out with Carl. Why, you didn't want to see me?" She asked playfully. Shane smiled at her and laughed. He had been having the slightest bit of feelings for his best friend's wife. He knew that it was wrong to be thinking like that, but he couldn't help it. He had known her and a Rick for a long time, and had spent numerous occasions alone with Lori. It was normal, right?

"I never said that." He said, equally as playful.

"What did you need to talk to him about anyway?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Nothing, I just wanted to hang out." He lied. How awkward would it be to talk about Kayla with Lori? Especially since they were best friends.

"Oh, really? That's why you practically bashed the door down with your fist." She said.

"Ok." He let out a sigh. "It's about Kayla."

"I heard." Lori said.

"Really?" He asked.

"Listen, there's something that you should know about Kayla."

Shane cocked a brow and gave Lori a confused look. "What are ya talking about?"

"Kayla... She's a virgin." Lori said slowly, giving Shane time to absorb the fact. It did shock him, but it explained everything.

"Oh." He said, unsure if what else to add.

"Yeah, so be careful with her."

Shane had never dated a girl that was actually a virgin, they were never his type. He knew that it didn't sound right, but to him "virgins" were underage girls who had never dated before. But apparently, girls as old as him could be virgins as well. He just never thought that he would ever date or meet one.

"So, uh, you'll never guess what's going on with Carl." Lori said, trying to change the subject quickly. She knew that if Kayla were here, Lori would not be talking about this. So why did she even say that? She didn't know.

"What?" He asked. What could be so interesting about a little boy?

"He has a girlfriend."

Shane chuckled. "He does not."

"He does. He told me."

"Oh, really. What's her name?"

"Sophia."

"Hm, Sophia, pretty name. Did you meet her yet?"

"No."

"What are they going to do? I mean, as a couple? They're so damn little. I mean, I'm sure that they're not going to make out or something."

"Sit with each other at lunch."

Shane burst out laughing. "That's hilarious." He said.

"It is."

"Are ya nervous for him? You know, cause your little boy is all grown up?" Shane teased. He knew that Lori had always dreaded the day that Carl became a "big boy", just like any mother did.

"Yes. He's not supposed to be interested in girls yet! What the hell?!" She snapped.

"Maybe he's just... I don't know. You better hope that this one's not a gold digger." Shane joked.

"Stop it! She's too young for that!" She smacked his arm playfully.

He laughed, feeling tingles along his arm where Lori had hit him. "You gotta watch out for that early though." He warned Lori.

Lori rolled her eyes. She laughed.

Shane had nothing left to say. Nether did she. They sat in silence for a few moments, and Shane couldn't stand it any longer. He felt a sudden urge coming on, knowing that it was wrong. In a sudden movement, he cupped Lori's face in his hands and captured her lips in his own. He knew that this was wrong, he had a girlfriend for Christ's sake, but he had been waiting for a long time to do this.

Lori pulled away from him quickly. "What the hell?" She spat.

Seeing the look on her face, he instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry." He tried, but he knew that it wasn't enough.

"You have a girlfriend. And you're in here kissing her best friend? What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked, pissed.

"I'm sorry. I said it. I've just... Been wait in' to do that for a long time."

"It doesn't matter! I'm married, you have a girlfriend, this is wrong Shane! You should know that."

"I do, I do."

Lori went on. "What if I told Kayla? Would you like to be dumped?"

"No. I didn't mean to do it, I swear."

"Then why the hell did you do it?"

"I've had feelings for you. For a long time. A long, long, time."

Lori sighed, putting her face in her hands. This was ridiculous. "What if I told Rick?" She asked. Shane's eyes widened. He could lose his best friend over this.

"He'll be real pissed."

"Exactly."

"So you didn't even like it in the least bit?" He asked her, and she felt like smacking him upside the head. Who asks a question like that? She had to admit though, she hadn't exactly hated the kiss. It wasn't too bad, but she didn't want to admit it. She felt guilty just thinking about it.

"I'm not saying that, I just..." She started.

He turned her so she faced him. "So you did like it..." He said, inching closer to her.

"Shane!" She shouted, trying to make him stop.

"What? You're the one who liked it..." He said, pulling her in for another kiss. This one was even better than the last.

They thought that this was a private moment. Nobody was going to know about it, except for them. Little did they know, someone had seen both kisses...

XX

"We need to talk." Rick told Lori as he claimed in bed beside her. Carl was already asleep, which was a good thing.

"About what?" Lori asked, a bit nervous. Had he found out about Shane somehow? She loved Rick, and didn't want to lose him. But then again, if that was really true, why would she have reciprocated Shane's kiss in the first place?

"Our relationship Lori. We need to know what we're doing, where exactly we are going. I feel like I don't even know you anymore." He said.

"I don't know what's going on with us. You never seem to have time for me anymore."

Rick sighed. He had to have patience. "I can't help they I have to work and support our family."

He was right, and Lori knew it. "I'm thinking that maybe we should have a family night out. Just you, me, and Carl. We could have fun. He could even bring his girlfriend."

"What girlfriend?" Rick asked, and Lori felt a pang of guilt. They were much too distant lately.

"Carl had a girlfriend. He never told you?" She asked.

"No. When did this start?"

"A few days ago. Maybe he's not ready to tell everyone yet." She said.

Rick felt his heart drop. Carl was okay with telling his mother about his girlfriend, but not his father? "Oh." Was all Rick could manage to say. Any more, and he knew that the tears would come. He rolled over so that he was facing the wall and not Lori, so she couldn't see how hurt he was by this.

Lori put her hand on his back. "It's ok. It's not your fault that he didn't tell you. He didn't mean to tell me anyway. He told me after I told him he couldn't walk to school alone because he was too young. He used it as an excuse to prove that he was a big boy." Lori explained, trying to make him feel better. It saddened her to see him so down.

"You still could've told me." He said.

"I know, I'm sorry. I guess it just slipped my mind."

Rick turned back to face her. "See, this is exactly what I mean. We never talk anymore. We never tell each other anything that happened during our days, even. We go to bed, and the only words we ever say are goodnight. We barely even tell each other 'I love you'! We're crumbling apart Lori, and I don't like it." He put his hand on her face, and ran his fingers through her hair. "I love you, and I certainly don't want to lose you. I don't think I'll be able to cope." He said, kissing her on the lips. Lori felt tears forming in her eyes. Not only because of what he had said to her, but because of the guilt of kissing Shane. She wanted to confess to him, but knew that she was too much of a coward to do so. She didn't say anything, she couldn't.

"Goodnight." He said quietly, turning over.

"Goodnight." She replied.

After a few seconds of silence, he whispered "I love you."

"I love you." She whispered back. Then, she buried her face into her pillow and cried silently until falling asleep.


	10. Chapter 10: I Saw Mommy Kissing Shane Walsh

AN: Hello everyone! I'm back with an all new chapter! This one'a a bit shorter than usual, but it's still important!

I'll warn you now, the next few chapters will be filled with DRAMA, DRAMA, and more DRAMA! So get ready for that!

Thanks to my beta rocknrollprincess131, the comments and corrections mean so much! 

XX

Carl peeked through the window of his house, looking inside. Rick was still at the car gathering all of the good stuff that they had bought at the store. Food, toys, video games, and much more.

Lori was inside, not unusual. But it was the other person who surprised Carl a bit. It was Shane. Shane was never really in the house alone with his mother unless his father was there too, which made Carl wonder what they were doing.

They looked as if they were talking, which wasn't that bad. It was what they did next that made Carl almost scream out loud to his father. He watched in horror as Shane leaned in and kissed his Mom right on the lips.

He gasped and felt his mouth form into a small O. Should he tell his father what he had just seen? Or was it just normal to do that? He was a bit too young to understand, but it still looked wrong.

"Carl, cone over here and help me out!" Carl heard his father call out. He decided to keep quiet about what he had just seen and ran over to help his father.

"Thanks dad. You know, for getting me all of this." Carl told his father, picking up the bag that was filled with a bunch of action figures and Lego sets. He had to admit that he had never been this spoiled before. Sure, he had gotten a lot of things for his birthday and Christmas, but he never just got this much stuff for no reason.

"Sure thing, bud." His father replied, and Carl was pretty surprised at his use of the word 'bud'. His dad had never called him little names like that. He usually just said 'Carl'. A lot of strange things were going on today, and Carl was getting pretty confused.

Carl was secretly afraid of what would happen when his father walked in on his mom and Shane. He had figured out that what they were doing was very wrong, his mom shouldn't be kissing men other than his dad. Would dad yell at mom? They had been getting into a lot of fights lately, and he didn't like it and didn't want to see it ever again. But he knew that he was going to right about now.

Rick unlocked and pushed open the front door. Surprisingly, Shane was gone and only Lori was there. Carl decided that it would be best to keep his mouth shut once again, just to keep the peace.

"Let's hope your mom doesn't flip about all of this stuff." Rick whispered to his son. Carl smiled at his father, aching to tell him what he had just seen go on.

"Hey honey." Lori said, entering the room. Carl ran up to her and gave her a big hug. He was dying to ask her why she was in here kissing Shane while he and Rick were out. Did she not love dad anymore? Did she like Shane instead? Wasn't Shane Kayla's boyfriend? Where did Shane go? How had he disappeared in a matter of seconds? Carl just had too many questions about this. If having a girlfriend was going to be as complex as this, he would just have to stay friends with Sophia.

"What's all of this stuff?" Lori asked, eyeing up all of the bags.

"There's more in the car." Rick said. Lori smiled, trying to refrain from yelling at Rick in front of Carl.

But even if they did start fighting, Carl probably wouldn't care. He was too busy worrying about where Shane was. Had his mother his him in the closet or something? He had seen they many times in TV, whenever a girl was with a guy that she shouldn't really be with and someone was about to see they would simply hide him in the closet.

"I'm going to bring these to my room." Carl announced to his mother, holding up the bag of toys.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Lori said, taking a peek in the bag. She widened her eyes as soon as she saw all of the toys.

"What? Dad just bought me some toys." He said, hoping that she wouldn't lash out. He closed his eyes.

"Ok, hon. Take them to your room, I need to talk to your father for a moment." Lori said.

Carl walked into his room and put the bag of toys on the floor. He walked over to his closet. He opened it up and looked inside. No Shane.

Looking in his parents' closet would be much more difficult. He wasn't really allowed in their room if they weren't in there, for reasons that they wouldn't tell Carl.

Carl tiptoed out of the room, and looked at his parents. His mom was whispering something to his father, and she looked serious. This made Carl nervous. What could they be talking about? Why were they whispering?

Carl skipper in his parents' room quietly, looking around. It was clean and organized in there, unlike his own room. It was also very boring and adult-like, so Carl didn't want to waste any time.

He opened the closet door slowly, as if Shane would just jump out. He shut his eyes for a second, until the door was fully open. Nothing was inside but clothes and boxes. Carl sighed. So he risked getting in trouble for nothing? Carl sighed and huffed. He wanted to stomp out of the room, but that would just be a stupid decision.

Carl snuck out of the room just as he had snuck in, quiet like a mouse. When he checked back on his parents, they weren't whispering. That would've been a good thing if they weren't doing something even more worse and weird.

They were just standing there, still as statues. They weren't even looking at each other.

Carl watched them for a few seconds and then headed back to his room to play with his toys.

He wondered if Lori had told Rick that she was kissing Shane when she wasn't supposed to. Wasn't that what she had taught him, "honesty is the best policy"? Maybe that's why they weren't looking at each other. They were angry, but didn't want to start shouting.

Carl smiled and tore open one of his Lego sets, thinking they it was a good thing that he didn't have to keep a secret from his own father.

XX

Carl sat at the kitchen table, a spoon and his bowl of oatmeal in front of him. His mind was a bit groggy, so his only thoughts were "pick up the spoon and eat."

He did as his brain told him to. He hated mornings, he could never think straight. Sometimes, he was so tired that he dropper the oatmeal from the spoon onto the table.

"Morning Carl." His father greeted, sitting down at the table.

"Ey dad." Carl said.

"Carl, you look like a zombie."

"Maybe because it's first thing in the morning." Carl snapped, and Rick let the comment slide because it was so early in the morning.

"So, son, I heard you have a girl now." Rick wanted to test his son, just to see if he would tell his own father the truth. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring it up right now in the early morning, but Rick saw it as the sooner the better.

"What?" Carl asked.

"You heard me. You have a girlfriend now."

"I do. So?"

"Why didn't you say anything? Why did you only tell your mother?"

"I didn't even want to tell mom. It just kind of... Slipped out. In sorry I didn't tell you. To be honest, I was actually going to tell you first and then go to mom. I felt that you would freak out less. I'm sorry dad." Carl said, and Rick thought they it sounded pretty genuine.

"No, it's ok. I know how you feel. You don't want us badgering you and asking tons of questions. I know. Don't you think you're too young to have a girlfriend though?"

"No!"

Rick laughed, so did Carl.

"Sophia, huh?" Rick asked his son.

"Yeah that's her name."

Rick smiled at his son, chuckling a bit. He still couldn't believe that Carl was into girls already. "All I have to tell you is good luck." He told his son, and his son looked at him like he was an alien with six heads.

XX

Kayla stared at her reflection in mirror. It had been awhile since the thing that happened with Shane, and he hadn't even called her yet. She had kept her phone on all day with the ringer volume as high as it could get, but still nothing. She hadn't even gotten any calls today, so she wondered where the hell everyone was.

Kayla walked back into her bedroom and sat on the bed, sighing. For the first in awhile, she actually felt like she was in a good relationship with a good guy. But now, it felt like it was over. Was it? She didn't want it to be, and weren't they supposed to say something before they broke up?

Kayla sighed and looked at her phone again, making double sure that the volume was on and loud. Sure enough, it was.

Suddenly, the phone rang in her hand, causing her to drop it. She quickly picked it back up, feeling embarrassed.

She answered it without even looking at the caller ID.

"Hello." She said casually, since she didn't know exactly who it was.

"Hey." The person on the line responded. It was Lori.

"What's up?"

"So...Has Shane called you yet?"

Kayla rolled her eyes. She didn't want to answer the question, but she knew that if she didn't, her friend would not stop asking until she did. "No."

"Wow. He really should."

"I know. You're friends with him, force him to call me or drop a few hints on how I really want to talk to him. It should work."

"Right..." Lori said. If only Kayla knew...

"What? He won't listen to you? Tell Rick to tell him. They're best friends, right?" She didn't want to let Lori know that she would usually tell Rick this herself, she didn't want Lori angry at her. If only she knew...

"I'll try. I don't want to force him though. Nobody likes being pushed into things, you know."

"Yeah. You forced me into this blind date with him, and now look. This is why I didn't want a relationship right now, I knew it wouldn't work. I actually liked this guy." Lori felt guilt build up inside of her. She knew that part of the reason Shane hadn't called because he had kissed Lori.

"He'll call you. It isn't over yet."

"I'll believe you when it actually happens."

"It will. By the way, are you free tonight? I need someone to watch Carl."

"Sure. Where are you going tonight?"

"Rick and I are going out on a date. I read in a magazine they if a married couple goes on more dates, it'll make the marriage better."

"I'm sure. Have fun." Kayla said.

"Thanks so much! Come over at 8, ok?"

Kayla looked at the clock. It was 7:30. "Alright, see you then."

XX

"Hey Kayla." Lori greeted as Kayla entered the house.

"Kayla!" Carl shouted, running up to Kayla and giving her a huge hug. Kayla smiled.

"Hey." Kayla greeted. "Lori, you look so pretty." And it was true, Lori did look good in a black dress. But Rick was the star of the night, in a tuxedo. Kayla felt a pang of jealousy because Rick was Lori's husband. She shook it away quickly.

"Woo hoo, you guys are a good looking couple." Kayla joked, trying to calm the red they was making its way onto her cheeks.

"Thanks, Kay. See you later." Lori gave Kayla a smile and walked out the door. Rick waited until Lori had fully walked out of the door to turn around and give Kayla a small smile, to which she replied to by doing the same.

The door shut.

"Kayla, you're blushing." Carl pointed out, and Kayla's cheeks got even more hot.

"Yeah, I do it at random times. What do you want to play?" Kayla asked.

"My dad just got me a ton of new stuff. Come on!" Carl urged, grabbing Kayla's hand and pulling her into his room.

They sat down on his floor. Carl pulled out one of his Lego sets and flashed it to Kayla. "Woah this is nice. Your daddy spoiled you." Kayla commented, eyeing the bag full of stuff in the corner of the room.

"I know." Carl said as Kayla handed him back the box. He tore it open and dumped its contents on the floor.

Kayla picked up the building instruction manual. "So, tell me about this girlfriend of yours." She smirked.

"Does everyone know?" Carl asked angrily, but he was smiling.

"I do. Spill." Kayla tore open one bag of the Legos and scattered them across the floor. She felt like a young child again.

"Her name is Sophia, I've known her since kindergarten. We've been friends since, but only recently I've started liking her. I asked one if my boy best friends, Patrick, asked her out for me, and she said yes. That's it." Carl said, so fast they Kayla could barely make out what he was saying.

"How did he ask her out for you?"

"He went up to her and said 'Want to go out with Carl? He likes you.'"

Kayla bit her lip to keep from cracking up. She said nothing more and began to build with the Legos. Carl watched her as she did this, wondering if he should tell her what he had seen earlier. Shane was her boyfriend after all.

"I'm not doing this alone, bud." Kayla said, finally breaking the silence. Carl slid over, and she examined his face. "You okay?" She asked him.

"Uh huh." Carl answered quietly, sifting through the Legos.

"You're not telling me something. Is something wrong? Nobody else know about your girlfriend, and nobody is angry. We think it's cute."

"That's not it." Carl said quietly.

"Then what?"

"I... I saw something yesterday."

"What?"

"I um... I saw..."

"What honey?"

"I saw my mom kissing Shane."

XX

AN: Uh oh! What's going to happen now? Sorry to leave you off on a cliffhanger like that, haha!

Stay tuned kids, it's about to get crazy!

Thanks for reading, have a great day/night!


	11. Chapter 11: Face To Face

First off, I would like to thank my beta rocknrollprincess131 for the comments and corrections! It means a lot to me!

There is a lot of vulgar language in this chapter, but it's just me guys you should be used to my cursing habit.

Enjoy!

XX

Kayla gasped and dropped her half built Lego creation. The thing fell to the floor and broke into tiny little pieces, but Kayla didn't even bother to pick it up. Carl stared at her, and Kayla could tell from the look on his face that he thought that he did something completely wrong.

"What?" Kayla asked, hoping that what she had heard was wrong, or that Carl was tricking her or something.

"I saw my mom kissing Shane. Did you guys break up already? Are my mom and dad going to break up?" Carl asked, tears in his eyes.

"Slow down, honey." Kayla said, sighing. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts and process this.

The two sat in silence for a few seconds. Kayla breathed in and out heavily, not knowing what the hell to think. Her best friend was kissing her boyfriend? And then she had the nerve to say that all was going to be alright? Kayla felt her hands clench into fists of rage. She wanted to punch someone-namely Lori.

"You... Ok?" Carl asked quietly, looking a bit afraid.

"I'm fine." Kayla snapped, and Carl looked a bit afraid. She immediately felt bad.

"Are you sure? Then why are you crying?"

Kayla hadn't even noticed the hot tears rolling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them off. It was all too much. She couldn't take it. The tears weren't just from sadness, they were also from fury. Lori better be afraid to walk through that door...

"Did you tell your mom that you saw her?" Kayla asked, even though she already knew the answer to that question.

"No." Carl answered.

"Why?"

"I thought that she would get mad at me."

"What about your father? Did you tell him what you saw?" Kayla also doubted this, Rick would tell her if Carl had told him that. Or would he?

"No, I didn't tell anyone but you. I didn't want to cause any trouble." He said, bowing his head.

"You could even more trouble by not telling people something like this." Seeing his face, looking like he did something wrong once again, made her change what she was saying.

"It's ok. It's not your fault. I understand what you mean, I understand. Is the reason that you didn't tell your parents right away was that you thought that they were going to fight?" She asked.

"Yeah. I thought that they were going to break up and get divorced. Or maybe they would just start yelling, but I don't want either of those things to happen." Carl was about two more seconds from sobbing, Kayla knew it.

Kayla immediately felt terrible. She was also pissed at Lori. How could she do something like this to her baby boy? Did it make her feel good to be this afraid of what was going on between his parents? Was this right at all?

Carl sniffled. Kayla reached over and pulled him in for a hug. She felt the tears come back and make their way down her cheeks. Then, she head Carl begin to cry softly.

"Don't cry." Kayla told him, wiping away both her own tears and Carl's. How could this happen.

What did I ever do? Why does this have to happen to me? Lori was my best friend for a long time. Why? WHY? Kayla thought in her head. What did I do to deserve this? My first real relationship in a long time, and it's ruined-by my best friend nonetheless! Why would Lori even set me up with him if she was going to do this? Maybe he forced himself on her. Maybe it wasn't even her fault. Maybe...

"Can I ask you one question?" Kayla asked Carl. Maybe she was onto something. Maybe what she had thought was actually correct.

"What?"

"Did it look like your mom was being... Forced into kissing Shane? Did it look like he was making her kiss him?"

"No. It looked like they were having a good time. She was smiling, and it looked like they were laughing."

Kayla felt her heart drop. She felt tears of both betrayal and rage forming in her eyes. This wasn't right.

XX

Kayla rebuilt her Lego creation for the next half hour silently, while Carl sat on his bed reading a comic book. The Legos were distracting Kayla for now, but as soon as Lori walked in the door, it would all be over.

Kayla was tempter to call her right now and soil Lori's date, but decided against it and decided it would be best when she got home so that she could confront her face to face.

"You almost done?" Carl asked Kayla.

"Yeah. Do you want to build the rest?" Kayla asked him.

"Sure." Carl slid over and continued working. The silence was back, and Kayla had to admit that she didn't like it one bit. Whenever she babysat Carl, it was fun, full of laughter. This time it was tense, and that was only because of Lori.

Kayla knew that she should've put Carl to bed a long time ago. Lori would've wanted that, she even instructed Kayla to do so. But at this point, Kayla could give two shits. She smiled, knowing that it would feel good to see Lori shocked that her son was still up and playing. She would hate it, and Kayla would love it

10 minutes later, Kayla was aware of a key toying with the lock on the front door. Lori and Rick walked in, whispering so that they didn't wake their son up. Little did they know, he was still wide awake.

Kayla exited Carl's room. "Wait here for a second." Kayla instructed Carl, and he looked at her like she was a nut job.

"I just have to talk to your mom for a second." Kayla told him this time, and he nodded.

Kayla approached Lori, an angry look on her face.

"Why's Carl still-" Lori started, but she was cut off when Kayla grabbed her arm and pulled her into the other room. She did so quite violently.

"You have 30 fucking seconds to explain what the hell is going on." She told Lori through gritted teeth, and Kayla noted that Lori looked quite alarmed. Good.

"What are you talking about? Rick and I were just at dinner-" Lori started, but Kayla cut her off.

"I could give a shit about that. You know what I'm talking about, don't play dumb." Kayla said. Lori stared at her friend. What was going on? This Kayla was not the Kayla that she knew, this one seemed a little bit crazy. What the hell was she even talking about?

"Kayla, I seriously have no idea what you're talking about. Honestly." Lori insisted, but Kayla didn't believe her, not one bit.

"I love how you act like you don't know what you've done." Kayla once again felt her clench into fists of rage. She breathed in and out, trying to keep herself together. If Lori acted like she didn't know what was going on one more time, it would bring Kayla over the edge and nobody would be happy.

"What did I do..." Lori began, but then it hit her. The kiss. How the hell did Kayla find out about it? Who told her? It couldn't have been Shane, Lori knew that he would never reveal something like that, because he would get dumped. So who was it?

"You kissed Shane! Why would you do something like that? I'm supposed to be your best friend! We are supposed to do anything for each other, and that does not include kissing each other's boyfriends! It's just wrong. How would you feel if I just went and kissed your husband?"

Lori looked down at the ground for a quick second, and then looked back up at Kayla. Kayla could see the tears building up in her eyes.

"Listen Kayla..." She started.

"What? There's no reason why you did what you did, so there's no need for you to think. Why would you do it? Just tell me." Kayla looked at Lori, who was still sitting in silence. "Come on, tell me."

"How did you even find out?" Lori asked.

"Does that really matter?" Kayla asked, cocking her head to the side and putting her hands on her hips. She needed an explanation from Lori if there was one, and stalling wasn't going to do the trick. She didn't even know why Lori was even attempting to stalk, because nobody was going to leave until she explained herself. Kayla could feel the anger bubbling up inside of her as she watched Lori think about what to say next. She was about ready to burst.

"Actually it does." Lori said. She was quite pissed herself. Did Kayla just think she could come in here and be a huge bitch?

"Ok. Well, your son told me. He caught you two in the act. And don't go yelling at him for being nosy or anything like that. It's not his fault. A married mother shouldn't be kissing her husband's best friend. No kid should have to see it, and you can expect them to be confused if they do see it. So don't tell at him after we're done talking. It's seriously not his fault."

"Woah woah. What's wrong with you? Do you think that I'd actually go yell at my son for this? I wouldn't. I'm not that type of person and you should know that, at least you did before you came in here and acted like queen bitch, pointing fingers and making accusations. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I didn't kiss Shane, maybe he leaned over and kissed me?"

"Lori, I would love to believe that. But your son told me that it looked like you two were laughing and 'having a good time'."

"Oh really. Maybe he didn't see us correctly."

"Don't try with the excuses. There's nothing to it. No matter who kissed who, you both enjoyed it. And you know what? You two can be together. I'll dump Shane and be sure to tell your husband what's going on. He shouldn't have to live like that, in a world where his wife is kissing his BEST FRIEND behind his back. You want Shane, have him. And I actually thought that he was good guy, I actually liked him. But I guess you want him now, so get get him." Kayla had a sinister grin on her face. Lori didn't even recognize her. She was never this infuriated before, and it scared Lori to say the least.

Kayla began to leave the room. Lori grabbed her arm and pulled her back, which kept her from leaving. Kayla glared at her.

"What do you want?" Kayla asked.

"Please. Don't say a word to my husband." Lori pleaded.

"Don't try it."

"Listen to me. I'll cut off all communications with Shane. I'll never talk to him again. I made a mistake. And I know that it was wrong. But died it really have to be this way? Have every one pissed at each other?"

"You ask yourself that. You're the one who started this whole thing. If you didn't kiss Shane, we'd all be happy and things would be like they usually were."

"Just forget about it."

"I can't. Think about what's best for your son. Do you really think it's right for him to catch his mother with another man? Do you think that he isn't scared or confused? He was almost in tears when he told me, because he thought that his patents were breaking up for good. That must make you feel terrible, and it should. I know I would feel like shit if I were you."

Lori glared at Kayla. Her glare was so icy that it almost gave Kayla chills. But she didn't let Lori intimidate her.

"You have no idea how it is." Lori started. "You don't know the issues that my husband and I are having. You don't know how hard it is for us. You have no idea how depressed I am, how afraid I am, thinking that my silly, childish actions, could cost me the best man that has ever walked into my life. And I'm talking about Rick. What's done is done, Kayla. I made a mistake. I know it. I'm not going to try to defend myself or make it any better. I just don't want to lose my husband, not after all we've been through. And as for what's best for Carl, I think they we should keep it a secret from Rick. Carl doesn't like it when we fight."

Kayla sighed. "Listen Lori. It'll be worse for Carl if you don't tell Rick. What if he finds out another way? He'll think that you've been keeping a big secret from him for all of this time, and then you'll really have a broken marriage."

"By 'another way', do you mean from you?"

"Lori, I'm just trying to help. Being a bitch isn't really necessary, and it's not going to help fix what you've done."

"I'm the one being a bitch? I don't think so. You're the one coming on here and threatening me and trying like hell to make sure that my whole family gets broken apart because I kissed your damn boyfriend. You don't know how it is to have a family, okay? Maybe if you actually settled down with someone and started a family, you'd understand. But you never did. I get it. You work with kids and know how they are. But you know how they are at school. Maybe they're troublemakers, maybe they're smart. But beneath all of that could be a not so pretty life at home. Have you ever even thought of that? Or do just care if they pass their exams? You think that because you're a teacher, you can just tell every single person how to raise their kids and what's best for them. You're a teacher. Not a mother. Get over yourself. You have no idea what's best for a child."

"I know more than you do. And hiding it isn't a good thing."

"You don't know shit!" Lori shouted.

"You think I don't? Ok a better mother than you and I don't even have kids. Yeah, that's right. I take care of Carl better than you. And don't say say I don't, because you know it's true."

"Yeah, okay. You like to think you're some tough bitch who knows everything about parenting because you babysit and teach. News flash: that's not what if takes, bitch. And I don't know how much it will take to get that through your thick little skull, but you better get it through there fast because yo have no idea what it's like being a mother and what it's like to be married. So if we have that straight, then I think we're good."

Kayla felt her anger bubbling up inside of her. She needed to let it out. Not only did Lori call her a bitch more than once, she insulted her job and who she was. Without even thinking, Kayla lunged towards Lori and was pulling her hair.

Lori let out a screech and began to pull at Kayla's hair, digging her nails into her scalp. At this point, Kayla had no control of her actions. She knocked Lori down and gave her a punch in the face. She couldn't believe that she was doing this, but in a way it felt right because Lori deserved it.

Lori kicked Kayla in the stomach, sending her gasping and flying into the wall. She hit her head so hard a against the wall that there was a faint crack in the wall. Kayla's head was throbbing and her vision was a bit blurry. Pissed, she dove back at Lori.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

If it wasn't for the person yelling, Kayla probably would have killed Lori. Kayla turned around, only to see none other than Rick and his son.

"Why is my wife on the floor? Carl get out of here!" Rick shouted, sending Carl flying into the other room. Kayla immediately felt like shit. Carl shouldn't have to see all of this.

"Listen, I can-" Kayla started, but she was soon cut off.

"I don't need to hear anything. Just go. Please." Rick said. Kayla was frozen, she couldn't move an inch. Rick couldn't take it for more than five seconds.

"GO!" Rick shouted.

Kayla went running, fighting by back tears. Didn't rick see they she was a little injured too? He only seemed to care about his wife, and that was normal. But he didn't know why exactly they were fighting in the first place.

Oh, if only Rick knew...

XX

Kayla sat on her bed with her long legs crossed and her eyes red. She was open to admit it, she felt bad about what she did. In a way, revenge was good, but in another way, it always backfired.

Now that she had gone and done something as stupid as that, she would probably lose the friendship of both Lori and Rick, plus she'd probably never see Carl again and get to meet his girlfriend. Not that she blamed all of them. She didn't want to see herself either.

But that didn't make what Lori did okay, either. She still screwed up big time, but Kayla was just getting it worse right now.

Kayla liked to think that there was a chance-even a minuscule one-that she'd be able to talk to the Grimes family and that everything would be happy and normal between them and herself. She knew it was just a silly dream, a fantasy. She was friendless, and when she called Shane in a few hours she would be boyfriend-less. Her life was slowly falling apart, but she knew they she had to keep it together. She had a job, and they didn't care how shitty it was at home or in your personal life, you had to teach those kids so they could succeed.

Kayla would call Shane right now. For some reason, she just wanted to dump him and get it over with. But then she's be back to square one, which was just alone. She'd have to make more friends, and get a new boyfriend.

Kayla sighed. Why had she done what she had done? She was supposed to keep control of herself, keep herself composed. But after what Lori had said, she just couldn't.

"What the hell." She said, picking up her phone and dialing Shane's number. He picked up after only two simple rings.

"Hey babe." He said when he answered.

Kayla basked in the moment, thinking that it'll be the last time that he will ever call her that.

He kissed Lori...

"Um, Shane? We need to talk about something." She said, twisting and playing with her hair while she waited for Shane's response.

"What? Are you okay?" He asked. Since when was he concerned about her health and well being? That just made it all the worse that she was dumping him. But then she remembered the exact reason she was dumping him.

"I'm fine. But I've heard that you've been up to some interesting activities lately, why don't you fill me in?" Kayla didn't feel like getting into another argument right now, not after how the last one had ended. But she knew that she sort of had to. After all, Shane was the other person involved in the Lori incident.

"Well yeah, there was this crazy guy who was brought to the station the other day, he tried to bite us..." Shane started, but Kayla cut him off.

"Don't try to play games with me or act stupid. I know what you did." She snapped. She wasn't just going to sit around and believe Shane and his shitty act. She knew that he knew what she was talking about. Maybe he thought they she had no idea. She tapped her fingers on her bed impatiently, waiting for Shane's answer.

"What the hell?" He asked.

"Let me give you a hint. Lori." Kayla rubbed her head, stopping at the bump. Her head was still throbbing, but she ignored it.

"Oh shit." She heard Shane mumble. "Listen, it's not what you think. It was an accident, okay? I didn't know what I was doing."

"Yeah, likely excuse. Carl saw you two, you know."

"Shit, shit, shit." Shane said. "Listen-"

"No. You know what this means, Shane. It doesn't mean we'll come to an understanding. We're done. Carl saw it, Lori admitted to it, and you just admitted to it too. It's over for us. And we were having fun, too bad you had to screw it all up." Kayla said.

"Wait! We can still have fun. We can forget about it, it was all just one stupid mistake. I swear."

"Shane, I told you."

"No you didn't. You just can't forgive and forget. But if it was you who went and kissed someone, you would force me to forgive you. As a woman, you always have to be right, you never do anything wrong. You're always right, too."

"I never said I was. But the point is, I didn't go and kiss someone else, especially not your best friend."

Shane was still going off and talking about how she couldn't forgive, how it was all a mistake, and how it would never happen again.

"We're done." Kayla said.

"Wait, listen to me-"

Kayla hung up in the middle of his sentence. She put her head on her pillow, shut her eyes, and sighed loudly.

"Fuck my life." She said as she fell into a deep sleep.


	12. Chapter 12: Miss You

"Oh god, honey, what the hell happened to you?" Rick asked his wife as he crouched down beside her. Rick had no idea what the hell had been going on between his wife and Kayla, all he really knew was that it wasn't good.

"Kayla went crazy." Was all Lori said as her husband helped her up.

Rick knew that Kayla had to have a good reason to do this to Lori, he knew that she didn't go crazy for no reason. "Why? Did you say something to her?" Rick asked. He knew it probably wasn't his wife's fault, but it had to be somebody. Lori looked at the ground for a few seconds before answering.

"I just told her she couldn't tell me how to raise my kid." Lori lied. It wasn't a complete lie, that was part of the reason why they were arguing.

"Then you just got into a fight? I think you told her that multiple times and she never did anything like this. Tell me what it really was." Rick said, and Lori gulped. She hadn't expected Rick to see through her lie that quickly.

"That was it." Lori tried, but Rick stared at her, indicating that he knew that she was lying.

"There was something else. What is it? Just tell me, you know you can tell me anything."

I can't tell you this. Lori thought to herself, contemplating whether to say it aloud or not. She couldn't tell Rick about her encounter with Shane. They would just be wrong. But then again, if she didn't tell him and he found out from somewhere else(namely Carl), then there would be a bigger problem.

"Lori." Rick said firmly, snapping her out of her trance.

"Listen hon..." She started, unable to finish. What could she say, really?

"What? Just tell me." Rick urged.

"MOM!" Carl called out as he ran into the room, and Lori breathed a sigh of relief. Rick glared at her.

"Hey honey." Lori said, pulling her son in for a hug.

"Mom, are you okay? What happened? Why was Kayla going all crazy?" He asked, even though he knew why Kayla had turned on Lori.

"I'm okay, honey. I'm fine, Kayla was just..." Lori didn't know how to continue. She knew that her son knew exactly why Kayla had attacked. She looked back over at Rick, who was staring at them. Lori wondered if he could detect what was going on right now. He wasn't stupid.

"Okay." Carl detached from his mother and ran into the other room, leaving Rick and Lori alone once again.

"So..." Rick started as soon as he assumed that Carl was out of earshot.

"Yeah?" Lori asked, trying to hold this off as long as she could. She knew that it couldn't be forever.

"What's going on between you and Kayla?"

"I just... I messed up, honey. I really messed up." Lori said, sniffling.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that the reason that Kayla came at me was a good reason."

"What was the reason?"

"I... I... I may have kissed your best friend." Lori finally admitted. She looked away from her husband, she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes. What she did was wrong, and she didn't expect him to be forgiving like he usually was.

Rick stood frozen for a second, paralyzed by shock. "Shane?" He asked quietly, even though he knew the answer.

"Yeah." Lori said, biting her lip.

"Shit... Shit..." Rick said, pacing back and forth. "Why?"

"I don't know."

"Where? When? WHY?"

Lori felt like shit. "It's just that we were having some problems in our relationship, you knew it too. I just... A few days ago, Shane was coming to visit you, but I was the only one here. We got to talking and, next thing you know..."

Rick covered red his gave with his hands, unable to speak or even loon at his wife. Why hadn't she told him earlier?

"It was the day that you took Carl shopping. I think it's just... I needed someone to lean on..."

Rick couldn't speak. There was a lot to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say any of it. His wife had been faithful all of these years, why would she change now? He wanted to break down in tears, but he knew he had to be strong. How could he, when his family was falling apart before his very eyes?

"How... How could you? You're not happy with the family that we made? Lori, I love you, but do you really love me anymore? I don't understand this. Please explain it to me. Why?" Rick finally mustered up the courage to say.

"I'm sorry..." Lori said softly, biting her lip to keep from sobbing her heart out. Rick looked over at her. She knew very well that he loved her and would do anything to protect herself and Carl. She considered her husband's question. Did she really still love him? They had been together for a long time, but they didn't mean she could go and kiss other guys. She also had to admit that she had never seen Rick like this. He was on the verge of tears. She didn't like this.

You're the one who made him this way...

"Sorry? Lori, if we were just boyfriend and girlfriend, I would just tell you to go. To be with Shane. But we're married. And if that means nothing to you... Then I don't know what to say."

"Do you... Want me to leave?"

"I never said that. But I think spending some time apart would be better for all of us. Even Carl."

"Time apart? What do you mean?" Lori asked, even though she knew exactly what he meant. He wanted her to leave. "You can't kick me out of here. How will they be better for Carl?"

"He knows what you did. And I think that we should give him time to forget about it." Rick said.

Lori thought for a moment, sighing. "I guess you're right. What I did was wrong, and my kid shouldn't have had to see it." She got up and left, heading towards their room. Rick wanted to call out to her, pull her into his arms, and beg her to stay. He opened his mouth to do so, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He walked to their room, and saw Lori gathering some things up. Clothes. Books. Anything that she would need for a few days. He felt paralyzed, he couldn't move. Never had he ever thought that this would be happening to him. He almost didn't want it to. But deep down, he knew that it had to happen.

XX

"Excuse me! Mrs. Hammond! I don't get this question!" Barry called out loudly, referring to the worksheet that Kayla had given the students to work on. She didn't really feel like doing any actual teaching, so she just decided to give out worksheets for the students to work on old skills.

Kayla sighed and approached her student. Wasn't the point of the worksheets to give her free time? "Which one?" She asked.

"This. What is paraphrasing?" Barry asked.

"It means to put the poem into your own words. Just what you think it means basically."

"Ugh, that's too much work." He groaned.

"It's going to be a skill you're going to need on all of your tests. Might as well practice now." Kayla told him.

"I know what it is. Do I really need to practice it?" Some of the other students in the class were starting to snicker.

Kayla rolled her eyes. She really didn't care if Barry wanted to be a failure, she would just let him do what he wanted if she could. But she couldn't. "Yes. You need to practice not only for the tests, but if you want to pass the marking period."

"Fine." Barry said. "God, are you having a bad day or something. You usually help us out when we need it. But now, you're just being a witch."

"My days are none of your damn business." Kayla said through gritted teeth, feeling anger bubble up inside of her. She would normally be able to hold it in, but today she just couldn't. "What happens to me had nothing to do with you, so just worry about you. I come here to teach, you come here to learn. If you do t want to do anything t with it, don't. I'll see you at Burger King when I come there on my lunch break."

Kayla was shocked at her own words. Most of the others in the class were too, because they were all sitting in silence, mouths wide open. Especially Barry, whose face was whiter than a sheet. Kayla knew they she could get in trouble for talking to a student like that.

"Woah, Barry, I didn't mean any of that. I shouldn't be talking like that. You'll be successful one day." Barry's expression didn't change. "Okay," she continued, "You're right. I've had a bad past few days, and I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine." Barry said quietly, looking down at his work. What had she done? She wished that time machines were real, then she could go back and fix it. And not only the Barry thing. She also wanted to go back and stop herself from hurting Lori, or try to stop the kiss. Maybe she would go as far as to go way back and never go on the date with Shane. That way, everything could be normal and just the way it was. Maybe she didn't companionship after all. Maybe relationships were the thing that actually ruined lives, and not make them better. Maybe Kayla was wrong this whole time.

The bell rang and Kayla didn't even notice. The kids all rushed past her, but she still didn't move from the spot where she was standing. She couldn't. She stood there for a few solid minutes, her mind flying through space. She sat down at her desk a bit later. She took out her phone and checked the time. Halfway through lunch. Great. Then she went on her keypad and moved her finger towards Lori's number. She began to sob just then, remembering that she no longer had a friend to talk to at lunch. She had no boyfriend to talk to either. She had nobody. She was completely alone. She was back at square one, and she didn't think she'd ever build her way back up to where she was before. She had great friends, and even a hot guy by her side at one point. But she had fucked it all up, and she hated herself for it.

XX

"Carl?"

Carl was almost out of the classroom when his teacher had called him back. The class was walking down to the lunch room. Sophia, hearing Carl's name, had stopped at the doorway and waited. Carl assumed that since they were a thing now, that's what they had to do for each other. He was pretty clueless about this whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing himself, but he was trying his best. He really liked Sophia.

"Carl, did you hear me?" The teacher asked. Her eyes moved to the doorway. "Sophia, you can go to lunch."

"I want to wait for Carl." Sophia answered.

"He'll be right down. I just need to talk to him." The teacher told her firmly, but the girl still wouldn't move. Carl shot her a quick smile, feeling butterflies inside of his stomach.

"Is he in trouble? He didn't do anything, just so you know." Sophia said, smiling back at Carl.

"He's not in trouble. Now go to lunch, Sophia, or else you'll be in trouble really quick." The teacher said.

Sophia sighed. She left then, frowning at Carl. He knew that she was sorry for leaving him, and he could forgive her.

"So, Carl..." The teacher started.

"Yes?" Carl asked.

"You weren't yourself today in class so far. Is something wrong?" The teacher asked sweetly. Carl wondered if he should tell her truth. His mommy was gone, and he had no idea why she had left. She came into his room that night with all of her bags and suitcases, kissing him on the head and telling him that she would be back soon. She didn't sound too sure. He cried, and she held him close and told him that it was going to be okay.

"Why, mommy? Why?" He asked her in between sobs.

"I made a mistake honey. I'll be back soon. I promise, love. I promise." She kissed his head again and got off of his bed, exiting the room. His dad had comforted him later, hugging him and holding him close. He was crying too, which was rare for him. Very rare. It scared Carl a bit.

"Carl? Can you hear me?" The teacher broke him from his daydream. He rubbed the tears away that we're starting to slip out of his eyes. She couldn't see him cry, she would get a bunch of other people involved. And Carl didn't want that. He didn't want to tell anyone else about how he lost his mommy.

"Sorry. I'm just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night." Carl lied.

"Oh okay." The teacher said, smiling. "Listen to your parents when they tell you to go to bed."

Parents? Carl thought. But I only have one now.

XX

Lori stretched herself out on the bed, in the hotel room that she had rented. She almost expected to feel Rick crawl up beside her and hold her close. She expected him to kiss her hair and then move down to her neck. She expected him to whisper "I love you" just as he fell asleep.

She shut her eyes, but sleep just wouldn't come. That's when she realized: she couldn't sleep without Rick beside her. She had been doing so for so long that she had forgotten how it was to sleep alone. It sucked, really.

She began to cry. She tried to lighten herself up by thinking about how this was better for her family. Carl didn't deserve to be around a cheater. Even of it was just a kiss, Lori could admit they if Shane came over again and did the same thing again, it would lead to more.

But why was she thinking like that? She wanted Rick. He was all that she had ever wanted, all that she ever needed. She couldn't live without him. So why did she screw it up? She didn't know, but she knew that she hated herself. More than ever before. She had also lost her best friend too, the one that she had shared all of her secrets and worries with. She screwed it all up. She felt hot tears rush down her cheeks. But unlike every other time, Rick and/or Kayla weren't there to catch them and comfort her.

XX

Rick held Carl close, burying his face in his neck, just like old times. Carl had no idea why his dad was doing this, but he liked it. He liked the comfort.

Rick smiled down at his son. One thing about fatherhood was that it never got old. He had been freaked out when he found out that Lori had been pregnant, and he was more than petrified when he had held Carl for the first time. But he had gotten used to it, and he wanted Carl to be young forever, so he could raise him again and again. That was why he loved moments like these, even 10 years later. It was an amazing thing.

"I want mom back." Carl said simply.

"Me too, Carl. Me too." Rick said, and he meant it. Tomorrow, he would go on a search for her. She had messed up, sure. But he loved her and that was all that mattered to him. Carl loved her too. And Rick knew, that just like himself, Carl needed her.


	13. Chapter 13: A New Life?

Wow. I'm actually updating? Lol, I think so! This chapter is a bit short, but no worries, the next chapter is already in progress!

Thanks to my amazing beta rocknrollprincess131! She makes sure they everything is squeaky clean for you guys, and I honestly can't thank her enough!

Thanks to all of those reviewing, also. Your support keeps me going, give me your thoughts!

Enjoy the new chapter!

XX

The next few days were very slow for Kayla. They even seemed slower than testing week, when Kayla and other teachers all gathered together to grade Regents exams. Yeah, the days seemed to drag out that much.

Whenever she was home all alone, her only thoughts were about all that she used to have, all that she had thrown away. Well, it wasn't completely her fault. But it mostly was. And she hated herself.

Kayla felt like she was having a lot more problems lately, especially with her temper. Maybe it was because of all that had happened to her, but her temper was growing shorter and shorter every minute. At school, she took less and less shit from her students. She often yelled at them and even gave them extra work that wasn't even necessary. She didn't feel like taking shit from anyone. It was probably from the stress, and Kayla thought that it would never end.

There were some nights when she would just sit in bed and cry, feeling pathetic. She needed the people that she had lost back in her life. It was the worst feeling. She felt like she was drowning. She was being pulled under the water, and there was no way out. She was helplessly stuck.

She knew that she couldn't go on like this forever. She could find new friends. A new boyfriend. It would all be okay. She wanted to believe it, but she knew deep down that it wasn't true.

She didn't know why she cared so much. Deep down she knew that she couldn't just throw away years of friendship. She couldn't just replace them either. It was just wrong.

Things would get better someday. It will all go away soon. These were things that Kayla kept telling herself, and she knew it wasn't true. She was just telling herself that to make herself feel better.

Maybe things would never get better. But Kayla would have to face it one day at a time, and just hope that things would at least lighten up a little bit.

XX

"Are you okay?"

Sophia's voice awoke Carl from his trance. He was thinking about his family, about how everything all crashed down within a day. It was the worst thing he had ever felt in his entire 10 years of existence. He wanted to just sit down and cry, but he didn't want to be a wimp. He and Sophia were sitting at a lunch table alone. Carl didn't really want to be around anyone, and Sophia had offered to sit with him, mostly because she knew something was wrong. Carl had agreed and let her sit next to him, and they had been sitting in silence for awhile.

"I'm fine. Just... Thinking." He told her, trying to act tough. He didn't need other people knowing the pain that he felt, especially not his girlfriend.

"About what?" Sophia asked. He didn't respond for several seconds. She looked over at him, a look of worry in her eyes. "You can tell me what's on your mind. I won't laugh."

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"Well I'm here whenever you're ready."

I'll never be ready.

XX

Shane sighed. It was nearly 9:00 at night and his phone was ringing off the hook. He didn't know who it was, and he didn't care. All he knew was that he didn't want to deal with it right now.

After three more calls came in, he decided to check his phone, just to see who it was that was bothering him. He cringed when he saw the number. Hannah. He had thought that he had seen enough of the bitch when he went to the movies with Kayla that one time. How the hell did she have his number? Then he remembered: he kept the same number he had always had on all of his new phones. It was a lot less hassle and a lot less annoying. Except for when things like this happened.

Without thinking, Shane hit "call back" and presses his phone against his ear. He didn't know what the hell was going on in his head, why he was doing this, but he still didn't stop.

It took about 4 rings for Hannah to pick up.

"Shane?" She asked. She sounded confused.

"Yeah." He said. He didn't know what else he could say. He had no reason to be talking to her, except for the fact they he needed to get her off of his back. She was the type of girl to never let a guy go, and Shane knew that better than anyone.

"So... Uh..." She started, unsure of what to say. She hadn't expected him to actually pick up. She knew that she was the last person that Shane wanted to talk to, especially since he had that bitchy girlfriend of his. Sometimes, she wondered why she even tried with him. It was no secret that she was still into him, and she was positive that he wouldn't even glance her way ever again.

"Why did you call me a million times?" He asked, getting right to the point. He didn't want ton play games with her. He wanted to know why after all of this time, she was still into him.

"I just wanted to... Apologize." She said.

"For what?" He asked, confused.

"For um... Intruding in on your date the other night."

The other night? That date was awhile ago. A long while ago, or so it seemed. "Why? That was long ago."

"Well, it just felt wrong to never apologize. I mean... I know that we hadn't seen each other in awhile, but that was no excuse for me to just barge in on your date like that. So I'm sorry."

"Whatever. It's fine. Me and that girl, Kayla, we broke up. So it doesn't even matter anymore." He immediately regretted saying that. Why the hell did he need to tell her that? Sometimes, Shane wondered if he ever thought about what he said and did. The answer was no, because look at all of the trouble his mouth alone had gotten him into the past few weeks.

"Really? What happened?"

Shane sighed. He knew they the question was coming. And he didn't feel like he needed to answer it. Especially not with the truth. "We broke up." He repeated, hoping Hannah would pick up that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Oh uh... Okay then." She said.

"Yeah." He said. He didn't even want to think about Kayla or the whole break up. He just wanted all of the memories to go away. When he had first found out about Lori setting him up on a blind date, he had his suspicions that it would go badly. But he had pushed those suspicions aside on that first date, because it was so fun. But it was all too good to be true. He should've known that blind dates didn't end well. They never did. They worked in movies and stupid shit like that, but this was real life. And things were never perfect in the real world.

"So um... Want to hang out sometime?" She asked. So that was the real reason behind why she called. To ask him out. Great. That was just what he wanted.

"Hang out? Listen, Hannah. I told you that I broke up with my girlfriend. That doesn't mean I want another one. I'm sorry but that's the way it is."

"I don't want to be in a relationship with you. That's it. We could just be two friends hanging out. We should go out for coffee sometime. I heard that a new place was opening up. Or wait, it did already open up. We should try it."

"It better be just two friends. Like I said, I'm not getting into a relationship right now. So if you're thinking of playing me, I would advise just hanging up now."

"What makes you think that I'm trying to get back together with you? God, Shane. We could just be friends and nothing more."

"Yeah, because all guy and girl friendships always stay as friendships and never turn into relationships. You're right."

"Some do. We could just try."

Why the hell was she so determined? There had to be something else to this. "Okay. We'll 'try'."

"Okay, good. Finally."

Shane rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, goodbye."

"Bye. See you soon."

Shane hung up the phone and sighed. She had said "see you soon."

Great. Just what he needed. He didn't even know why he had accepted her crazy invitation. He just hoped that it would be like what she said, "just two friends". If it wasn't, he would run the other way.

XX

Rick felt pathetic. Hell, he was acting pathetic. He couldn't be like this. He was a man acting like a fucking woman. If he kept on living like this, it would be torture. He couldn't.

He looked over at Lori's side if the bed, half expecting her to be there. He quickly shook the thought from his head. He needed to stop thinking about her, it couldn't be healthy...

This couldn't go on any longer. Lori was gone now, at least for awhile. She was probably with somebody else by now. Soon enough, she would want to finalize a divorce. It was already like they were divorced.

The ticking of clock seemed to be mocking him. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

Snap out of it, Rick.

He shot up. This wasn't his own fault. It was all hers. They had been living a perfectly happy life for years, and now this? He knew they everything had to end at one point, but what part of "Till death do us part" was hard to understand. It was straightforward, and they had both vowed to go by it.

Stop thinking about her...

And right then, at that very moment, he vowed that he would be strong. He wouldn't let his thoughts of Lori bring him down. In fact, he wouldn't even think about her. He couldn't. He was going to be strong for himself, and for Carl. As for Lori, she was just another picture to burn. Sure, they were married a long time, but if she was willing to throw it all away, so was he.

XX

Kayla was going to go out for lunch today. She just couldn't take sitting in the classroom for lunch. Each day that she did, she would always remember the old times. She would always reach for her damn phone to call Lori, and then she would remember. And with remembering came all of that sadness once again. And then she would sit at her desk and cry silently until her next class arrived.

Everyone was wondering about her, students and other teachers alike. She knew exactly what they were thinking. They were wondering what was wrong with her. They were wondering why one minute she'd be a complete bitch, and another minute her face would be all red and blotchy and streaked with tears. She was a mess, and she knew that everyone could see, but she didn't give a shit anymore.

It was weird for Kayla last night, because she didn't make a lunch. It was a routine for her, and it was just one of those things that seemed normal to do everyday. But when she didn't do it, she felt wrong. Like she was missing something. She almost freaked out when she saw that she had brought no lunch. But then she remembered... She was going out today. She needed to get out and do something with her life for once. Every day for her was spent doing the same thing, and she wanted to break the pattern for once.

The place that she went was a simple diner, known for it's burgers and fries. Kayla could remember the last time that she had eaten a burger, so she decided right then that she would get that.

It felt a bit lonely, eating alone. The last time that she had actually eaten out like this was when she had went out with Shane, and she didn't even want to think about that. She looked around the restaurant, surveying the people around. There were families laughing and eating, teenagers hanging out, couples chatting it up, and of course, loners like her. She didn't like to think of it like that though. Maybe they were just on their lunch break like her, and just wanted to catch a quick bite before they had to get back.

When her burger arrived, she smiled. She missed going out, which she used to do on her lunch break, in her early days of teaching. She had long since dropped it, because she usually wanted to talk to Lori and would often get caught up, and sometimes she had so many papers to grade, she couldn't leave.

As Kayla bit into her burger, she decided right then and there that she would start to live in the present. She wouldn't fall into a boring routine, at least for now. She would do what she wanted, and go out whenever she felt like it. Yeah, the present was a good time to live in.

XX

What do you think? It seems as if everyone is trying to start over new... Hmm... Wonder how that'll work. What do you think? Let me know! Good, bad, I'd like to hear your honest opinion!

Next chapter should be out soon because it's already half written(not really, but it's still somewhat done...) !

Thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

Oh... Hello. Yes, I'm actually updating. Times have been kinda tough me for me lately, and I've been getting dragged down by depression, and school doesn't help. But guess what does? Writing fanfics.

As always, thanks to my beta/fan fiction sis rocknrollprincess131, for editing this chapter. You're the bomb.

I was reading through the reviews on this story, and I love you guys so much. Definitely my favorite group of reviewers. You guys all have different opinions about this story, and it's honestly awesome to see all of your opinions. Some of you want Kaya and Rick to be a thing. Some of you want Shane and Kayla to make a comeback. Some of ya want Lori and Rick to get back together. Honestly guys, let's make a Kik group or something where we can all discuss the story. Like that would be fun as hell.

Anyway, sorry about the length of the chapter. I just wanted to get something out for you amazing people.

XX

Shane didn't know why the hell he was actually going through with this. He felt like an idiot and he really shouldn't have agreed. The last person he wanted to see was Hannah. Hopefully, she wouldn't try anything. He was hoping it would be like she said, coffee between friends. Except knowing her, the bitch would try to flirt with him during it. He wasn't going to take it. If she tried anything, he would literally get up and walk away. He knew that it would be rude to do that, but he had told her point blank that he wasn't up for a relationship, and he wasn't.

He got dressed, and what he wore wasn't anything fancy. There was no reason to get all dressed up and have Hannah think that he was actually trying to look hot for her. Hell no.

I need some alcohol right about now...

Shane scratched his head. Damn, it was only 9:40 in the morning and he was thinking about a drink. He sighed and headed out to his car, annoyed at himself. Was he high when he agreed to see his crazy ex? Was he drunk? Whatever it was, he agreed, and now he had to go.

Just go there, drink coffee, nod and occasionally laugh at what she says, and you'll be fine. It'll be over quick...

Or not. Even the thought of Hannah gives me a damn headache. How am I going to survive a couple hours?

Ah, fuck it.

Shane got in his car and drove as slowly as he could to the coffee shop. On the way, he passed by Rick and Lori's house. He wondered how things were going for them. He decided not to hang around in case someone came out. He didn't want it to seem like he was watching them or something. Things were already tense enough between him and Rick, and he didn't want it worse. If he was being completely honest, he wanted his friend back.

Too late now, Shane...

Maybe he could make it up to him somehow. It would probably be extremely difficult, and it was probably impossible. You couldn't just kiss another man's wife and expect "sorry" to cover it. Even Shane knew that. Then again, it wasn't as if he had slept with her.

When he arrived at the café, Hannah was waiting outside for him. Jesus. He sighed and stepped out of the car, approaching her slowly. He thought about running away, but knew it was much too late for that.

"Hiiii Shane." She said, with a gigantic smile that was taking up her entire face. Why? Why was she acting like they hadn't talked in years?

"Hey." Shane said.

They went inside and got a table. Shane already wanted this over with. Just sitting across from this chick made him want to die. Why couldn't he have just told her he wasn't up for this? Why couldn't he just come up with some stupid story about some "plans" he had today? He sighed quietly.

"Soo... How have ya been?" Hannah asked. The smile was still on her face, and he couldn't really stand it at all. What did he ever see in her? God, this was a nightmare from hell already.

"I've been fine." Shane said, hoping that Hannah could detect how annoyed he was and how he didn't want to be chatty with her. But he had a feeling that it wouldn't happen. She was such a ditz that she probably wouldn't even detect it one little bit. Just this thought made Shane want to shoot himself.

"Me too, Shaney bear." She said. Shane nearly vomited. That was the name that she had given him when they were going out. Why the hell was she using it now? Shane was about ready to leave.

"Something wrong?" She asked him.

"Yeah, actually, there is." He say, deciding to be up front about it. If she couldn't catch onto what he was trying to get at, he would just have to tell her. Because he knew that she wouldn't be able to figure it out by that simple statement.

"What?" She asked, completely confused already.

"Don't call me Shaney bear. Don't ask why. Just don't."

"Why not?"

Shane almost rolled his eyes back so far that he could see his brain. She was annoying him so much. "We're not here for romance, right?" He explained. Hannah nodded, so he continued. "You called me that when we were together. So I don't want to hear it now."

"Okay..." She said, looking down.

They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, unsure of what to say or do.

This is what it feels like when you're somewhere you don't want to be with someone you have no desire of seeing.

"So..." Hannah started, but Shane ignored her and looked out of the window.

"You really don't want to be here, do you?" She asked, cocking a brow. Shane stared at her, surprised that she would actually call him out.

Shane sighed. "And you do want to be here?"

"Yeah... It's just... We haven't talked in awhile, and don't you want to at least be friends? Don't you at least want to talk a bit? You were always so stubborn, and I can see that it hasn't changed one bit." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking extremely pissed off, but Shane didn't care.

"You haven't changed a bit, either." He said. He sighed and got up.

"What the hell... What are you doing?" Hannah asked. But Shane completely ignored her and walked out of the door.

This whole thing was a damn mistake.

XX

I'm sorry... I miss you...

Rick rehearsed what he would say a million times. He had been doing some thinking. Maybe this whole "forgetting about Lori" thing wasn't going to work. The more he thought of it, the more ridiculous it was to him.

I am going to throw away my marriage because of a kiss... That's ridiculous. It's just a kiss. It's not like anything else happened. Come on, Rick. Get the hell over it already. You have secret meet ups with her best friend, for God's sake. Why are you complaining?

He contemplated picking up the phone and calling her right now, but what would he say? What would he do? All he really wanted was to hear her voice again, but he knew that what she would probably say to him wouldn't be that soothing and sweet.

The phone suddenly rang out of nowhere. He ran over to it. He didn't know what was going on in his head, but as soon as he answered it, he said "I miss you."

"Wait... What? Rick? Are you okay? It's Kayla."

Rick sighed. What was he thinking? Did he actually think that it would be Lori? He must be going nuts.

"You there?" Kayla asked.

"Yeah." Rick answered. He wondered if she could figure out how tired he was just by hearing his voice. She probably could, they really did know each other well.

"I'm probably the last person you want to be talking to right now..." She stopped mid sentence, as if she wanted him to say something. He could tell from the tone of her voice that she was sad, and lonely.

When he said nothing, she continued. "I'm sorry. For all that happened. I'm just... This is all my fault. I'm really sorry, Rick. The words probably don't mean jack shit, but... I mean..."

"Kayla." Rick interrupted.

"W... What?" She asked, obviously surprised that he had said something.

"I don't know what exactly happened.. What I was thinking... But it's not your fault. Trust me. It isn't. This whole thing is ridiculous..."

"Wait. So are you saying... That maybe we could be friends again? I mean, what happened was stupid, I agree. So maybe we could just forget about it."

"There's no way that I'll ever really forget about it."

"I understand. I really do. But... We should go out sometime. Just to talk. I think we need it."

Rick was surprised. "Um... Is there something you want to tell me? Is that why you want to go out to dinner or whatever the hell?"

"No... I just want to talk and possibly put all of this behind us. Is that too much to ask? I mean I understand if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine. We can go out and talk. It'll be a good thing compared to what I have been doing."

"Have you... Talked to Lori lately?"

"No... She's gone right now. I want to talk to her again. I really do."

Kayla sighed. She didn't know what to say. He still hasn't talked to Lori? She wasn't surprised, but that made her feel worse about this whole going out thing. Maybe she and Rick could build their friendship back up, and then move on to Lori. Although she really didn't want to speak to her, she would probably have to if she wanted to be friends with Rick.

"So we're gonna go to dinner sometime?" She asked.

"Yeah. Lemme know. Bye, Kayla."

"Bye."

XX

Kayla sighed and threw her phone on the bed. What was she thinking? Was she insane? She had just asked Rick out, and even if they were just going as friends, she knew it still wasn't right.

What had happened to living in the present and forgetting her past? Turns out it was harder than she had initially thought. She needed friends, who exactly was she kidding?

She sighed. She supposed that "living in the present" had not only meant that she would do new things, but also unexpected things would happen. Maybe what she was planning on doing wasn't right, but maybe it would help to move things along. Maybe after she talked to Rick, she could talk to Lori, and maybe she could work on getting her and Rick back together...

It was true that this thing was getting ridiculous. All of them split up... All because of a silly kiss. And she would try to make it a little bit better. It was the least she could do.

And if she didn't? She wouldn't worry about it. She wanted to make things all better, but somewhere deep down she knew it may not happen. Kayla would just have to live with whatever happened.

No use dwelling on the past, right?

XX

This one might have been short and boring, but I'll tell ya one thing:

Shit is going down next chapter. Like its gonna be pretty crazy.


End file.
